Hazing
This is probably one of the saddest things I’ve heard all day. I was watching the Filipino news with my family today (YES WE GET THAT CHANNEL, JUDGE ME) and I couldn’t help but perk up when I heard something about a fraternity at a college in the Philippines. Unfortunately, it wasn’t something about achievement or excellence, it was this story about Mark Andrei Marcos a 21 year old freshman Law student at San Beda College who died rushing a fraternity.
The news of this stuck with me for some reason. After I read this article, I really thought about some of the things that they said. I couldn’t stop thinking about this young man, who I didn’t even know. How the news of hazing reached international levels. ITS ABSURD.
It all comes down to one thing: You can not justify the death of any person due to hazing. Any justification that you may tell yourself when you are degrading or demeaning another human being for the sake of sisterhood or brotherhood is just something you may do to comfort your wrong doing.
Let me put it this way, think of the mother of the sister or brother that died because of hazing. Think of the father of this student who came for education and a better future. Think about the younger sibling who looked up to that person for guidance and strength. Think about the older sibling who swore to protect their brother or sister from any danger only to have them ripped from their world by people who were also supposed to be their ‘brothers’ or their ‘sisters’. Think about those people when you think of your justifications for hazing. Imagine looking each of those people in the eye and telling them that “this is how we bond” or “its all in good fun” or “its not that bad” or “its tradition”.
Obviously this is just one person’s opinion and I suppose the reason for my passion behind hazing is because honestly I couldn’t imagine doing anything like this to any human being let alone one of my sisters. They are my family. I can’t imagine the look I would see in their eyes as I was telling them/making them feel like they weren’t good enough to be my sister. I can’t imagine going through something like hazing myself, mostly because I would never let myself do it. I would tell myself this isn’t sisterhood, this isn’t what I was looking for. But most of all, the thought of using one of those excuses to explain myself to one of my sisters parents or brother or sister knowing that I could have stopped things before they got too far and that I will never be with my sister again literally makes my heart break. At a risk of sounding sentimental, loving someone, trying to share something as special as sisterhood/brotherhood with someone, should never come at a cost. Whether its physical or emotional and it should never cost someone their life.
RIP Mark Andrei Marcos
