High School Athletes’ Attitudes about Bullying and Hazing

Journal of Bullying and Social Aggression

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Volume 2, Number 2, 2017

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High School Athletes’ Attitudes about Bullying and Hazing – Sports bullying and hazing among high school athletes has not received as much research attention as the other forms of bullying.  In order to understand bullying and hazing in sports more research is needed.  The goal of this study was to obtain information about high school athletes’ attitudes about sports hazing and bullying.  Participants were 229 male high school athletes.  They completed a survey assessing attitudes about sports hazing and bullying as well as the prevalence of behaviors related to the belief that sports hazing is a part of the sports culture.  Results demonstrate that athletes have mixed attitudes about sports hazing and bullying; while many believe that sports hazing can cause negative damage to an athlete, many also believe that a little hazing is okay as long as no one gets hurts.  Furthermore, the results reveal that many behaviors and attitudes about sports bullying and hazing are related to the belief that hazing is a part of the sports culture.  Implications for parents and coaches are discussed.