Ragging is one of the ugliest parts of a student’s life. Being a 3rd year student, I felt the need to make my colleagues and the freshmen aware of this strange human behavior which often leads to excess and unwelcome consequences. Quitting raging (also called Hazing) will be a noble act of us all students.

Ragging can be defined as the systematic ritual of physical and psychological abuse of freshmen or juniors by their seniors in an educational setup, with the intent of socially inducting the newcomers into the group. This phenomenon was practiced first time in the Greek Culture as early as 7th – 8th century.  New entrants to the sport community were subjected to all kinds of humiliations and teasing to inculcate a team spirit in them.

It was later adopted by the military forces, army and police forces, where new recruits are required to undergo a degree of physical abuse. It finally entered the education system with it. The modern forms are believed to originate from The British Public Schools. During the colonial period, it entered the Indian Education System. The first ragging related death was in the year 1873 when a freshman from Cornell University fell into a george.

With the new admission season coming, ragging is a matter of concern for the parents and college authorities. The following are a number of myths and facts which will help us over come some misconceptions associated with Ragging.

Myth I: As long as there's no malicious intent, a little ragging/hazing should be O.K. Fact: What purpose do such activities serve in promoting the growth and development of the new comers. It is an abuse of power and violation of human dignity. Ragging is only politically correct.

Myth II: Ragging is an effective way to teach respect and develop discipline.
Fact: Respect is always earned not taught. Victims of Ragging rarely report having
respect for those who have ragged them.

Myth III: Ragging makes one bold and courageous.
Fact: Tolerating wrong-doing to oneself and not breaking-down in such circumstances is not boldness, but 'learning' to accept exploitation. It teaches us how to be exploited and mutely, non-resistively accept it.

Myth IV: It helps the person in defeating his shyness and introvert character.
Fact:  This behavior attribute to challenge a person's fundamental freedom of choice, adds to destroying the individuality of the person and playing with his sensitivity.

Myth V: Severe Ragging is not prevalent anymore.
Fact: Severe ragging is widely prevalent in most of the colleges which have hostels, be it the smaller cities or the metropolitans. Nothing speaks louder than more than ten cases of suicide due to ragging in the last four years. The problem is not solved yet, it is just hidden.

Myth VI: It's difficult to determine whether or not a certain activity is ragging. It's such a gray area sometimes. Fact:  It's not difficult to decide if an activity is ragging        1) Is alcohol/drugs involved?
 2) Does the activity risk emotional or physical abuse?
 3) Is there risk of injury or a question of safety?
 4) Would you object to the activity being photographed for the     College Magazine or filmed by the local TV news crew?
     If the answer to any of these questions is "yes," the activity is probably Ragging.
 But can there be any alternative or solution to Ragging? According to me, we should follow the punch line – “Don’t Rag, Interact” and this interaction should be from both the sides. Avoid dress codes if any. Sporting activities can play a good role in bridging the senior-junior gap. Formation of student mentor bodies can only prove to be use full if other students also realize their responsibilities in eradicating this evil. Few of the organizations which are working to prevent and raise a voice against ragging are, Cease Hazing Activities and Deaths (C.H.A.D), Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (C.U.R.E), National Human Rights Cooperation (N.H.R.C), No Ragging Foundation (N.R.F) and many more.
 
Ragging normally creates an environment of constant fear, results to extreme suffering and humiliation. Few students become depressed after ragging and start feeling insecure, few give up their hard earned seats and few do end their life. This all happens because of fun or to show our hard earned seniority or are we no more homo sapiens.   Besides harassment of parents, ragging simply emboldens the seniors to indulge in heightened for of sadism. Ragging is normally considered a vicious circle i.e. the victim becomes the perpetrator, but it all depends on one self whether to become a perpetrator or work out to prevent this evil from getting practiced. Let’s take a pledge and effect a change today.
 

*Institute of Hotel Management,
 Catering and Nutrition(Final year)
Gurdaspur,Punjab.