PIERZ - Five Pierz Healy High School basketball players were suspended from school for three days after a reported hazing incident.
Superintendent George Weber said Wednesday that the Pierz boys' basketball team was on the way home from a game in Maple Lake when one of the players reported that he was inappropriately touched and he felt violated. The male student was not touched sexually.
Weber said the five students were suspended Monday through Wednesday and they will return to school Thursday. Weber said the boys will not be able to play in any basketball games for two weeks.
Weber said school officials have been talking with high school students about inappropriate behavior and making sure that the students don't hold any animosity and that they are supportive of each other.
Comments (19)
Add commentWow I can't believe the
Wow I can't believe the Superintendent would say that "The male student was not touched sexually". Was he there? Did he witness it? I'd say not. The victim DID say he was touched sexually but since none of the 5 are admitting to it, they can't do anything about it. More investigating will be done I'm guessing. Boy, Brainerd Dispatch you screwed this one up unless the Super really did say it and in that case then that really sends a great message to any kid in the future who wants to report something. Why? No one will believe it anyway.
curly,
Please read the article. It said the student was touched inappropriatley. It did not say sexually and personally, I will lay odds that he is one whiney kid!
pdnet15
Guess I didn't specify. The article is wrong because I personally know that he DID tell school he was touched sexually. Get it?
improperly touched...??
The student evidently has more to say that makes him fearful of repercussion. Others need to come forward and fill in questionable details. Something more serious had to have happened that made this student bring it to authorities.
Are there more victims of hazing out there?? You've got to come forward to get this ugly kind of incident stopped.
curlysue
Were you there? Did you witness it? I'd say not.
It was probably a sack tap.
Inappropriate touching
If a "sack tap" is what I think it is, it was inappropriate. And by the way, if someone is offended or feels uncomfortable by the way they are touched, it's inappropriate. And as for the superintendent of the school...if someone feels they were touched inappropriately and felt violated, it WAS sexual. Someone would not feel violated by a pat on the shoulder. That's plain stupidity even to say that it wasn't.
this is sad
This is aweful, what makes it worse is that not one person on that bus was willing to stand up and say this is wrong. I have heard details about this and as far as I am concerned the 5 should be punished way more than missing a couple games and getting 3 days off from school, but anyone on the bus that knew what was going on should be punished as well, knowing something wrong is happening and letting it happen just the same is almost as bad as participating. As for the people out there that think this kid is a whiner- you must not be a parent, correction a good parent, I hope nothing like this ever happens to your kid.
Pierz Athletes
I am seriously taken back by this. I think it's so horrible and those students should have much harsher punisments. WHat a joke to just be like "ohh miss some school and a few games" .. Really? You think that will help them learn a lesson? They probably don't care if they miss school or a few games. And, who ever is saying it's probably the whiney kid, keep your comments to yourself. This is a story about a child being hazed, violated and all you have to say is "it's probably the whiney kid"-- This is a serious issue and I feel that the school needs to step it up and have a better plan other than just talking to the students. Workshops, speakers and other forms of informing students needs to happen. Not only in Pierz but all schools. What a horrible situation that child was put in. I hope someone steps up and admits to the truth..
Hazing is normal
Now before you fly off the handle take note that I am not speaking of this specific incident. Hazing, bullying, teasing is all a part of growing up. Its something that has always happened and will continue to happen. We need to stop being so darn sensitive. maybe if we were all a little tougher, our kids would be tougher. Think about your grandfather...wasn't he absolutely the toughest, most manly man you ever knew. While he was growing up hazing was a rite of passage.
Now to address the boys in Pierz, if the "innapropriate touching" was of a sexual nature the punishment cant be harsh enough. They should be off the team completely and be dealt with by their parents...you know the way things used to be.
WOW
God help these kids if they acually get in a fight....do they to prison now-a-days?
Sissy
If that's all you care about sissy, you've got some serious issues. If you're a parent, you give parents a bad name. If you're not a parent, you need to grow up and realize that life's not about the score to a game. Inappropriate behavior needs to be dealt with, not overlooked.
Not yours!
Peer pressure is keeping others from stepping up.
To the 'man' calling him a sissy for reporting it, was your son one of the team that hazed him?
"If it's not yours, don't touch it!" Didn't your parent's teach you that?
The superintendent should be called on the carpet too.
reply
No JohnBrown I wasn't there. My good friend has a son on the team and yes, he did tell what he saw and gave the names involved. That's how I know the victim did say it was of sexual nature. That's why I wasn't happy with the article.
A "sack grab" to you isn't sexual harassment? Really? So if those same boys walk up to a girl and grab her crotch, it isn't sexual harassment to you? Wow!
This whole thing really has nothing to do with basketball except that it happened on the bus and since someone decided to call it "hazing", that's what their punishment is for (it's in the MSHL rules). Same punishment would have happened if it would have happened in the lunch room or wherever. Athletes have rules to follow no matter where they are.
I looked in the paper this morning. Pierz 75 Rockford 59 Good job Pioneers! Keep playing strong and deal with any wins or losses as a team, boys!!
And Keithj, I feel for ALL the kids and their families and wish them peace from now on.
shame on you keith!!
I cannot believe all you are concerned about is the score of some games!!! Seriously!! Let's keep in mind some of the awful stories in the past of kids who never said anything about being bullied....their anger and hostility came out in horrific ways and all anybody can say after that is "we need to stop the bullying"....then it's too late. Thanks to the kids that came forward and did the right thing and gave names and accounts of what happened.
WOW
And we wonder why the young people are having trouble these days, take a look at who is raising them. I do not know the facts, I have heard rumor. Anal penetration with any sort of object is not a sack grab. Lets get back to the basics here- Good touch bad touch we all learned it in the 80's, if it makes you feel uncomfortable it is a bad touch. Bullying and hazing is not and should never be considered a normal part of life. In responce to (Hazing is normal) Rape, abortion, slavery, prostitution has been going on since the dawn of time as well that doesnt make it right. In responce to (sissy) if you are a parent you shouldnt be if you arnt please don't we have enough idiots in the world trying to raise children we don't need another.
Pierz ~~ ??
If the rumor you heard is true on the "a***l p*******tion", then there needs to be a thorough investigation. No stone should be left unturned. It's disgusting and degrading!!
Not only "SHAME on the students but SHAME on the coaches-admin" if this is taken lightly and down-played to a whisper that falls on deaf ears!
Keith
Keith, you were a wrestler so you are probably used to getting hit in the crotch!
curlysue
I said "sack tap" not "sack grab" and I didn't say whether I thought it was sexual in nature or not. Frankly, I don't care. The reason I posted a reply to you was to point out that you know what happened, even though you weren't there, then you accuse the Dispatch of being wrong because they, in fact, were not there.
It was worth a chuckle on my end.
As for five boys sexually touching a sixth on a bus? I say it sounds odd.
why the principal said what he did and how to stop hazing
The young man who was touched probably didn't want this to be publicized any more than it had to be because of the embarrassment the comes with sexual assault so I'm sure the Principal was sympathetic to this. That's why he said it wasn't sexual, and honestly, it really isn't anyone's business in the first place.
I can only imagine the horror of being a male teenager living in some small hick-town where everyone knows everyone else and having your sexual assault being publicized in the local paper and on the internet.
Now if you truly want the hazing to stop, you need to hit them where it hurts....THE WALLET. A couple days off from school and a few missed basketball games is a joke of a punishment. If you take the kid's who committed the assault and their respective parents to civil court, you can believe those punks will be nothing but angels to the victim for the duration of his high school career.
whatever happened
How do you figure out about winning and losing in life, by KEEPING SCORE.
Life is to easy now days. You lose, you get stronger or you keep losing. Its that way with EVERYTHING in life. If you dont put the effort in at your job, you lose.
Too much is given to too many for no effort. I guess we can blame our liberal pals and the gubment for that.
As for the hazing, if it was sexual or genitalia orientated, kick them out of school. If it was just your average picking on a younger student, if you got to punish them, then do it. But I think everyone needs to quit assuming they know through hearsay or because they think they know. Gossip is for highschool girls and old ladies at the hair salon, keep it there.