Not all traditions should enjoy perpetuation, and hazing is one of them. Nevertheless, it remains popular for high school students as a way to initiate new members into groups, teams, or organizations. Even so, Vermont frowns on the practice, and the state's school districts strive to prevent and reprove it.
Has your high school student been accused of hazing? Don't underestimate how heavily it can impact their future education and career. The Lento Law Firm Education Law is prepared to defend your child against the Vermont school districts, so call them at 888.535.3686 or fill out this contact form to schedule a consultation.
Why Vermont Takes Hazing Seriously
Vermont high schools try to respond to hazing with the same level of severity as the physical, mental, and emotional damage it's known to cause students. Sleep deprivation, public humiliation, toxic foods and substances, physical and verbal abuse, and sexual coercion are common elements of hazing rituals. Students who refuse may still be subjected to bullying and harassment.
Given that these actions are all dangerous, illegal, counterproductive to learning, or all three, it stands to reason that Vermont school districts would take a harsh approach.
Vermont State Laws on Hazing
In no uncertain terms, Vermont law declares that hazing is not allowed in public institutions. Whether it occurs on- or off-campus, hazing counts as any form of harassment or abuse for the purposes of initiating or retaining membership in an organization or program associated with a school. Students cannot expect to instigate, participate, support, or even be passively complicit in hazing without penalties.
How Vermont High Schools Discipline Hazing
Vermont's efforts to curb high school hazing don't end with the law. If they receive a hazing accusation, they strive to implement discipline plans and methods that “promote the positive development of youths.”
It starts with notifying the parents of the students involved and launching an investigation into the incident. There may be interviews with witnesses, instigators, participants, and victims, in addition to administrative hearings for the accused. If an accused student is found guilty, the school district will decide on a punishment plan that may include any of the following:
Mediation and Remedial Programs
To help students grow into thoughtful and productive citizens, Vermont school districts encourage peaceful solutions whenever possible. Administrators may, therefore, set up mediation sessions or invite students to participate in remedial programs to address the root causes of hazing and find a way to make amends healthily.
While this option will likely result in the lowest impact for your child and could even provide long-term behavioral benefits, it still may not be a deal in the short term. Mediation and remedial programs require emotional investment, which can be exhausting and distracting. Your child's grades could take a hit.
Suspension
When appropriate, and sometimes in combination with mediation or remedial programs, Vermont school administrators will suspend students for hazing. For up to 10 days, your child would not be allowed to attend classes, participate in school-sponsored events or organizations, use the school's vehicles or equipment, or even step onto the school campus.
Even short-term suspensions can significantly interrupt your child's progress, especially if they're already struggling in any of their classes. Their grades might suffer as a result. Between that and the fact that suspensions can show up on their attendance records or transcripts, they may have difficulty gaining acceptance to colleges or jobs that they want later.
Expulsion
In Vermont, expulsion is any banishment from school grounds, events, organizations, and equipment for longer than ten days. It can last for 90 days or the rest of the school year, depending on which is longer. Your child might be barred from returning for the rest of their academic career.
Although Vermont encourages its high schools to supply off-campus educational services to expelled students, they may choose not to do so. In such cases, you would have to enroll your child in a different school, if possible, to make sure they keep up with their peers.
Still, the educational options combined with the interruption of their studies can negatively impact their performance. Also, many colleges and employers are wary of a black mark like expulsion on a student's record.
Alternative Placement
Sometimes, Vermont school districts offer alternative education services or programs to students who get suspended or expelled. This could include education at home, in an isolated area of the high school campus, or at an entirely different school.
The downside is that your child may not receive the same level of quality in their education, or the new program might not be suited to their learning style. Problems like these can affect their final transcripts and limit their options after graduation.
Potential Loss of Aid and Special Privileges
Vermont is renowned throughout the United States for the excellent educational programs and support systems it offers to students. Up to this point, your child may have enjoyed eligibility for prestigious scholarships, internships, study abroad programs, and school-sponsored competitions. A hazing accusation could change all that. The Lento Law Firm will work to preserve its future.
Why Vermont Handles Hazing So Strictly
Mistakes are a normal part of growing up, even when they're as serious as hazing. For that reason, you might wonder why Vermont applies such heavy-handed disciplinary methods. While it's not the state's intent to cast a shadow across your child's life, they're motivated to deal firmly with hazing because of the deep harm it causes many people, including:
The Victim
The primary reason that hazing has earned such a negative reputation is that it often profoundly hurts its victims. Cuts, bruises, tissue damage, broken bones, and other physical injuries are common, some of which lead to long-term disabilities. Victims may also develop depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and similar mental and emotional illnesses. They may have trouble studying, working, and socializing for years after the fact.
Many victims are forced into hazing. Even when they consent, they're often ignorant of the realities and don't expect to experience problems like these. Strong anti-hazing protocols and punishments are Vermont's way of protecting and supporting both innocent and naïve students.
Your Child
You may already see how hazing is hurting your child as a perpetrator. Perhaps they've lost friendships, financial aid, and academic privileges. Maybe they're also suffering from a sense of guilt, low self-esteem, and fear for their future. None of these will change what happened, but they can affect your child's performance in school and choices in adulthood.
In fact, they could even become more prone to committing more crimes later in life. Many career criminals started as children, and poor self-esteem is one possible motivation. Such patterns of behavior could limit their academic, vocational, and social options.
Since the Vermont Agency of Education seeks to help every child grow into a productive and well-adjusted adult, the state's school administrators do everything they can to encourage model behavior. This includes responding harshly to hazing. Still, good intentions don't always produce positive results, so you need to hire the Lento Law Firm Education Law Team to advocate for your child.
The School Environment
Many hazing rituals are dangerous, messy, and distracting. Students and their parents may feel that a school where hazing occurs is unsafe and unconducive to learning. Even when they have nothing to do with hazing, students throughout the high school could become so worried about it that they end up performing poorly in class and on tests. To foster peaceful and supportive school environments, Vermont high schools enact strict punishments for hazing.
The School District
Parents, teachers, and administrators all want Vermont's high schools to be safe. Otherwise, families may try to send their children to different schools, or the state government may cut funding to the schools most affected by hazing.
The lack of financial and social support would be damaging enough for any Vermont high school. Even worse is that a lawsuit could cripple it.
One famous example is that of Zac Blondin, a former student of Milton High School in the Milton Town School District. In a highly publicized case, he accused his former football teammates of hazing by sodomizing him and other victims with a broomstick and pool cue repeatedly over the course of two years. A judge eventually awarded him $280,000 in 2012.
In 2017, the parents of an anonymous high school student filed a lawsuit against the Essex Westford School District, claiming their son had suffered hazing rituals from the Essex High School hockey team. The allegations include sexual misconduct, physical abuse, and property damage from the offender. State courts found the claims to be credible.
Vermont is known for providing ample funding to its school districts, but that's likely not enough to offset the costs of compensating hazing victims and recovering from public scrutiny. Students, teachers, administrators, and communities all suffer when school districts can't afford proper resources or pay staff. One way to combat such a problem is to punish hazing swiftly and severely.
Why the Lento Law Firm is Key to Defending Your Child
With so much motivation to deal quickly and strictly with hazing incidents, Vermont school districts can't always be trusted to give offenders due process. Your child's high school may try to rush through its investigation and assign disproportionately harsh consequences that may cast a shadow over their future.
The best way to protect your child is to hire the Lento Law Firm Education Law Team. Using their knowledge of the Vermont school systems, they can attend hearings and conferences with your child's school district and ensure that the administrators understand their side. By ensuring fair treatment, they can spare you and your child the impact of suspension, expulsion, or alternative placement.
Why You Shouldn't Hire a Local Criminal Law Attorney
Since Vermont criminalizes hazing, your first instinct could be to hire a local criminal law attorney for your child. However, the Lento Law Firm Education Law Team is a more sensible choice. Here's why.
Stellar Reputation
If the Lento Law Firm sounds familiar to you, that's because you've probably seen them in the news. Their skill and dedication have earned them national renown for taking on difficult cases. In fact, their success is the reason they've been able to establish offices throughout the country. They'll handle your child's hazing case with the same passion and prowess that they've used for others.
Hope for Your Child's Future
With the Lento Law Firm's assistance, the school might treat your child fairly, but the media may not. Many hazing incidents become hot news topics that spark public outrage, and your child may have difficulty recovering socially and emotionally. They could still be denied academic and vocational opportunities as well.
That's why the Lento Law Firm Education Law Team also considers your child's public image, not just their standing at their high school. Thanks to their experience with the press, they can ensure your child presents sympathetically to the public eye, saving their reputation and further preserving their future.
Thoughtful Defense Strategy
Hazing is illegal, but perpetrators seldom face criminal charges. Instead, they're typically addressed in civil courts and the schools where the incidents occur. Without needing to follow the procedures of a criminal court, schools may have no trouble denying due process and punishing hazing as heavily as they want.
A local criminal law attorney won't help with any of this. The Lento Law Firm Education Law Team uses a more effective strategy—confronting the school and defending your child to the administrators. Everything they do will center around advocating for your child in the right places and to the right people.
Protect Your High School Student From Hazing Accusations in Vermont
As with all young people, your child should be allowed to learn and grow from their mistakes. That's unfairly difficult when Vermont school districts choose to treat them harshly enough to leave a permanent impact on their life. Support your child and their potential by hiring a strong defense. Call the Lento Law Firm Education Law Team at 888.535.3686 or fill out our online form to set up a consultation.
