I have read the recent letters and opinions regarding the Parktown boys who have had criminal charges laid against them.
Has anybody stopped to think how this all came about and why?
Initiation has been going on for as long as anyone can remember, in schools, in military establishments and even in our national rugby team. This is not to say that it justifies anything. Perhaps there is no longer a place for initiation in today's world, but that is another debate altogether.
What one must remember here is that these boys were educated and went to a school where initiation was an acceptable practice and it was the accepted thing.
You will also probably find that they all went through initiation at some stage. What I am saying is that it's almost indoctrination to the point that they clearly accepted it was normal school behaviour and they were purely following and acting out what they had been taught to accept as standard practice.
Were they really equipped to make the decision between doing wrong and that of carrying out standard initiation practice?
Do they really deserve to have criminal charges against them for something that has gone on for decades? Are they not victims themselves in a twisted way?
None of us as parents want to see our children hurt and would act to prevent this, but perhaps in this case the mother has done enough to draw attention to this matter and probably caused the boys concerned a huge amount of emotional turmoil and pressure.
The problem with initiation is that it cannot be controlled and among 10 normal boys carrying out what they believe is tradition you will always have one bully that takes pleasure in pushing the limits.
Is it not the responsibility of today's schools to ensure that they deal with this internally to eliminate tradition and the practice of initiation? And to also change the mind-set of the boys in today's schools with regards to this matter that has caused pain and suffering to all concerned?
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