It is always tragic when a young person is seriously hurt or killed. It can be particularly disturbing if a student's health or life is jeopardized by a hazing incident involving classmates or teammates, or at a school-related event. After all, we expect high schools to provide a safe environment that allows all students to learn and thrive. It can be devastating to learn that there has been a hazing incident in your community. Your sadness and confusion will compound if your child faces accusations about their involvement in the hazing incident. Now, as a parent, it becomes critical that you focus on protecting your child and helping them navigate the forthcoming investigations and student disciplinary proceedings at their school.
Any school-sanctioned investigation into hazing or related misconduct should be taken extremely seriously. We know that schools often have their own agenda during a hazing investigation and rarely will your child's welfare be a priority.
As a parent, your child is your priority. To best protect your child from allegations of hazing, partner with the LLF Law Firm. You can make sure your child has a team in place dedicated to defending them and their future against inappropriate, disproportionate, or unlawful school disciplinary actions.
If your child is under investigation as part of a high school hazing incident in Pennsylvania, the LLF Law Firm can help. Call the Student Defense Team at 888-535-3686 or submit a confidential consultation form to discuss your case.
High Profile Tragedy Leads to Strengthening of Pennsylvania's Anti-Hazing Legislation
In 2017, Timothy J. Piazza, a college student at Pennsylvania State University, died after a hazing incident at a fraternity house. In response to the tragedy, the Pennsylvania legislature strengthened already existing anti-hazing laws to better protect minors and other students from hazing.
Under Pennsylvania's hazing law, an individual is guilty of hazing if they intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly force, coerce, or cause a minor or other student to:
- Violate federal or state criminal law.
- Consume any food, liquid, alcoholic liquid, drug, or other substance that subjects the minor or student to a risk of emotional or physical harm.
- Endure physical brutality, such as whipping, beating, branding, calisthenics, or exposure to the elements.
- Suffer mental brutality, such as any activity adversely affecting the mental health or dignity of the individual, sleep deprivation, exclusion from social contact, or conduct that could result in extreme embarrassment.
- Endure brutality of a sexual nature.
- Suffer any other activity that creates a reasonable likelihood of bodily injury to the minor or student.
Under the Pennsylvania statute, to be considered hazing the purpose of the coerced or forced activity must be:
- The initiation, admission, or affiliation of a minor or student into or with an organization
- The continuation or enhancement of a minor or student's membership or status in the organization.
Any high school's definition of hazing may vary from Pennsylvania's criminal statute. There could be many circumstances in which a student's behavior would not be considered criminal hazing under Pennsylvania's law but could still be classified as hazing and misconduct by a school.
If your child is facing a hazing allegation at their high school, the LLF Law Firm Student Defense Team can help determine the school's definition of hazing, why the school believes your child has been implicated in a hazing incident, and how to protect your child academic future best.
Hazing in Pennsylvania's High Schools
In recent years, media attention has focused on hazing investigations at high schools across Pennsylvania including Middletown Area High School, Mount Carmel High School, Mohawk High School, and Athens Area High School.
Whether your child attends a large urban high school in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh or a school in a smaller community, hazing is an unfortunate part of many student experiences. To comply with Pennsylvania law, high schools throughout the state should have policies against hazing in place and should educate their students about the dangers of hazing.
Hazing is undeniably dangerous and has no place in Pennsylvania high schools; however, your child's alleged involvement with a hazing incident should not end their education or destroy their future. A parent with a student facing a school investigation or disciplinary sanction due to hazing must be proactive in challenging the allegations and protecting their student's right to an education. The LLF Law Firm Student Defense Team can help. Across the country, we have partnered with parents to navigate hazing allegations, investigations, and disciplinary sanctions.
Your school's specific policy against hazing should be applied fairly, and all students' educational rights should be upheld and protected. Any school misconduct allegation, particularly one as devastating as hazing, could be a permanent problem on their academic record.
It's never too early to work with the LLF Law Firm Student Defense Team. Our experienced attorneys can ensure your child is treated fairly by their school during a hazing investigation.
Protecting Your Child During a High School Hazing Investigation
If your student is accused of being involved in a high school hazing incident, you cannot rely on your child's school to prioritize your student. It can be disappointing to learn that the teachers and school leaders you have partnered with for years are not willing to help you defend your child. Too often, the school district, high school, administrators, and other involved individuals will prioritize their own reputations over your child. You can trust that the LLF Law Firm will fight in your corner and share your commitment to your child.
All school-based investigations for misconduct, including for hazing-related incidents, are complex. The rights and safety of all involved students must be protected. The school's investigative procedure and any subsequent disciplinary process must conform to district policies, state and local laws, and national education requirements.
You want to make sure your child's right to an education is not sacrificed by a school that is desperate to save its reputation. The LLF Law Firm can help you ensure that all laws and procedures are properly applied to your student and for the protection of their education. With the LLF Law Firm working on your behalf, you can focus on your child.
Protecting Your Child's Right to an Education
In student discipline matters, schools often rush to judgment, trying to demonstrate a commitment to protecting alleged victims while minimizing the school's culpability. Often, schools seem to forget that a student accused of hazing or other misconduct remains a child in their care.
In the rush to demonstrate effective discipline and to protect their reputation, high schools and school districts may fail to follow their procedures, ignore the education rights of the accused student, or fail to provide essential information to the accused student and their family.
No one wants their child to be accused of hazing another student. Importantly, an accusation against your student does not immediately eliminate the school's obligations to your child. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and other federal and state laws may apply to your child's school, may impact how disciplinary investigations progress, and may determine how student sanctions are decided. The specific laws that apply to your child and their school may depend on whether the school is public, private, or charter.
Additionally, the location of the school will determine which local and district-level rules apply. Whenever a child is involved with a serious disciplinary matter, such as a hazing accusation, it is critical to know what laws and rules are involved. The LLF Law Firm's Student Defense Team can fight in your corner, providing the experience necessary to protect your child.
If the school's investigation concludes that your child was allegedly involved in a hazing incident, the school could determine any number of punishments are appropriate from losing honors or other awards to suspension or expulsion. Any of these punishments could have long-term implications for your child, and you should be careful to accept the school's version of events or not agree to the school's sanction without careful consideration. As a parent, this is the moment in which you need to advocate for your student and their needs.
We understand that an accusation of hazing against your child can be terrifying. It may seem that all you and your student have been working for has been destroyed. The best way to defend your child and their future is to develop a comprehensive defense strategy by partnering with the LLF Law Firm. Our Student Defense Team can help you understand what the school is doing, identify areas in which the school should be better supporting your student, and help you hold your child's school accountable for their actions or failure to act.
Build a Team to Defend Against Allegations of Hazing
Across the country, the LLF Law Firm Student Defense Team has fought for high school students facing disciplinary investigations and sanctions for hazing-related incidents. Our team has the experience to navigate the student discipline process with your child's future as our only priority.
The LLF Law Firm can provide experience and knowledge that is critical when defending a child from a school's disciplinary proceeding. We have the resources and ability to launch our independent investigation into the hazing incident. We have found that when we investigate a hazing incident, we often discover previously undiscovered or undisclosed facts that can be pivotal in your child's defense.
Unfortunately, children lie. It is common for a child to be untruthful or blame another student to avoid punishment. Additionally, well-intended witnesses can have unreliable memories, and their statements are not always accurate. Furthermore, we know that school-sanctioned investigations do not always focus on finding the truth. Instead, many are focused on exonerating the school from responsibility or liability. Even the best school investigators may not have the resources to find important witnesses or fully examine all the evidence. The LLF Law Firm will make every effort to find all the evidence and witnesses to support your child.
It's Never Too Late to Call the LLF Law Firm
If your child's school is trying to implicate them in a hazing incident, you are right to be worried. Don't let your concern paralyze or overwhelm you. It is important that you proactively defend your student and their rights. The LLF Law Firm Student Defense Team can provide critical assistance to you and your child by:
- Communicating with your student's school about the alleged hazing incident and any subsequent investigation.
- Identifying relevant state, local, and national education laws and specific school policies that apply to your student, including any support that the school failed to provide to your child adequately.
- Reviewing any allegations against your student to determine if the accusations are based on factual errors or misapplied legal standards.
- Performing an independent investigation to identify witnesses and collect statements and additional evidence to prepare the best defense for your student.
- Negotiating with school district and school officials on behalf of you and your child to mitigate the current and long-term impact of any disciplinary hearing or sanction on your child.
From the initial investigation to disciplinary sanctions, the LLF Law Firm can help you protect your student.
You and Your Child Don't Have to Face Hazing Allegations Alone
No parent wants their child implicated in a hazing investigation. You want to protect your child's opportunities in college and beyond. You don't want an isolated incident to prevent your child from graduating on time and with the honors they spent years accumulating. The LLF Law Firm understands that these are the fears of any reasonable and loving parent. With the LLF Law Firm in your corner, we can advocate for your child, their education, and their future throughout any school investigation, disciplinary process, or sanctions negotiation.
Your high school student does not need to face accusations of hazing alone and without support. The LLF Law Firm represents high school students and their families across Pennsylvania in hazing-related investigations and other disciplinary matters. We know your student's rights and how to protect them. To partner with the LLF Law Firm and our experienced student defense attorneys, call us at 888-535-3686 or submit an online consultation form.
