In a bullying and hazing checklist from the New Jersey State Department of Education, school districts are now being told to look for signs of trouble on their sports teams and with their extracurricular activities.
The memo is in response to the hazing scandal at Sayreville High involving their football team, reports New Jersey Spotlight.
Seven seniors on the team are facing criminal charges for abusing freshmen teammates in the locker room. The school’s head football coach and his assistant coaches were suspended with pay, but it is believed they didn’t know anything about what was happening in the locker room.
Besides telling schools they should be looking at practices and other activities where adults are not supervising, the state didn’t issue any additional guidelines, but they did say other steps could be put in later.
“We want to take the opportunity working with other associations to bring attention to the latest and best information we have,” says David Hespe, the acting state education commissioner in the article. “This is not just about supervision, but how to identify potential hazing situations and more importantly how to put in place and build a school culture that is proactive.”
