Jen Toomey fired, Michael Toomey suspended from high school coaching.

Additionally I seeing nothing here to suggest systematic hazing or even hazing in general. It appears those 3 boys didn't like the kid for what ever reason and where being bullies and roughing the kid up. Bad and stupid but not necessarily hazing.

Hazing is has been used by many people involved with groups (teams, groups, clubs, etc.) as a way for new members to prove their desire to be in and loyalty to a new group. (so much so that they endure the hazing) - in many cases its a non-monetary payment of dues. This type of hazing has an out, the person can decide to quit or leave the group (team, club, etc.). Certainly hazing is not approriate in many groups/clubs/schools and should be eliminated by those who oversee the group/club if it occures in these places where not acceptable.

I was hazed in high school and college as members of the track and cross country team and as a member of the collegiate lettermans club and in turn hazed new members during my upper classman years. I was none the worse for it physically or mentally and even look back foundly now on those times adventures. Our hazing was the doing of mential or embarrassing tasks, difficult physical labor (car washing in shorts and t-shirt during the cold winter months), and even being tossed into a swimming pool along one of our running routes. It is my experience that most kids take it well and feel more a part of the group afterwards, like the dues are paid and they are real members now.

Physical abuse (beating up, etc.) is never tollerated as a form of hazing.

So the issue in this article has nothing to do with hazing but rather kids physically assulting another.

From all my experience on teams, many rumors (true and false) float around and much horse play goes on. If a coach investigated every horse play incident and every rumor he/she would have no time to coach. This is how it is when dealing with athletic teenage boys and girls. I can not see how Mr. Toomey was to blame at all and his firing would be ridiculous. He heard a unsustaintiated rumor, checked it out with the 4 people suposedly involved and their concensus was nothing happened. Case closed. To suggest otherwise is only 20/20 hindsight moral grandstanding.

Peabody = robotics

Peabody Runner wrote:

I also want to add that Mr. Toomey is not a certified teacher and has never taken any classes toward an education degree. (From what I remember of him before he ran off to the other side of the country).

Well according to their website, he is the assistant athletic director.

Puts a new spin on things.

Toomey's job is to provide a safe enviorment for the athletes, thus since he failed in doing so he gets fired. It's that simple. Toomey personal weakness, and inability to lead his athletes caused the hazing by allow the athletes to think that they wouldnt get punished for it. Sexual harassment is a big deal, I'd like to see what would happen if two male athletes had done this to a female runner... Hmm I wonder... thus my point allowing hazing to occur is wrong... the "boys will be boys thus they are not responsible for their actions" attitude is unacceptable, yet it continue to prevail, then oddly enough we sit back and wonder why we have problems with schools and guns in this country...

and trina painter is the cross coach.

You don't have to feel bad for my child he can hold his own. If I unleashed him he would do more damage to the hazers than the hazers did to him...they out numbered him. You may not realize it--beat my chest,I am a man--there are laws in this country. I'm sure if I let my son meditate on the incident long enough he would pull a Columbine on his attackers. Would that solve the issue? Oh, I get it...pulling a Columbine would make him more of a man in your eyes and not be some weak teenager.

I can see why this world is so messed up just from your post. When you have kids (I can tell you don't)let one of your ,so called man beating chest kids, come home and say they were assaulted because there were too many in numbers for them to defend themselves. If you don't feel any different then...than your the same animal as the hazers.

Your problem is no authority figure took up for you (parents or whomever)"If my parents ever came up to explain..," Yeah right, you wish they would come up and complain for you. Get yourself thrown in prison, Mr. Man! When you have to drop your pants and grab your ankles while some animal of a man haze you into your new habitat...let me know then who is weak!!! Your dumping on a kid that was in a situation that was out of his control!

"To the stupid poster,

You and your attitude is the problem. You said how outraged you were when you were a** raped. Of course you were. Your authorities told you how how awful this was. I feel bad for your a**. Not because of the rape, because the jailors will more than likely watch out for your a** the next time thus making you weak before you can exit the prison system.

Control that!! Mr. Man!!!!

Your an idiot to post something so stupid about a hazed kid. I agree with the, parent of Hazed kid, poster. That is a classic response!

Hazing is wrong! The sooner society gets it the better off the world will be. I absolutely do not allow it on my team. I need my kids to focus not be concerned about some horrible hazing experience.

People who post "your an idiot" do not have the credentials to call anyone an idiot

parent of Hazed kid wrote:

I'm sure if I let my son meditate on the incident long enough he would pull a Columbine on his attackers.

This is very telling. I actually would expect that kind of behavior from an individual that is in High School and his dad still wipes his ass for him. It tells us a lot about your child rearing skills that you are "SURE" your son would act in that fashion. Good job dad, keep up the great work.

I can see why this country is on the decline from your post, parent of a hazed kid. Chest beating? He's not beating his chest. If your son was the only victim of hazing on the team, that's not hazing and there is something very wrong with it. However, if every freshman or newcomer on the team gets the same kind of hazing, it's not unhealthy. You wanna see the most close-knit student bodies in this country? Look at the state military colleges that still have a systematic initiation process. None of their freshman are going to go "Columbine" on anybody, and I don't know the details of what your son went through, but I know first hand that freshmen go through some awful shit. The fact that you think your son is capable of something like that suggests a failure as a parent. Not all things come free in the world, sometimes you have to prove you want to be a member of an organization. Like I said, if your son was singled out and beaten to the point of injury beyond a black eye, yes, that's messed up and be angry. But if it was a normal hazing practice, chances are the hazers themselves went through it and got through it no worse for it.

Not a wise one this Jen ... WHY IN THE WORLD IS SHE MOANING TO THE PRESS?

Not a class act.

I agree with the other posters about drawing the line between hazing and plain old assault. As a HS Frosh in the late-1970s I was subjected to a few incidents of "hazing" not uncommon among most of my freshman friends. I accepted it then and have a hard time condemning it now. This type of hazing (swirlies, forced to put Atomic Balm on your balls) were evenly handed out amongst all the freshmen and not specifically directed to someone who was "different". However, in later years, I clearly observed several incidents that were nothing more than physical assaults under the guise of hazing. Big difference when its part of a right of passage versus when it is simply an older larger boy physically abusing a younger kid who is doesn't quite fit in. While I'm no hero, the last such case on my team was when I was a junior or senior and stepped in and slammed the abuser up against a locker and told him he could mess with me if he wanted to but to leave the smaller kid alone. I saw more "hazing" after that, but no more abuse on my team.

Socrates wrote:

Not a wise one this Jen ... WHY IN THE WORLD IS SHE MOANING TO THE PRESS?

Not a class act.

The press contacted HER genius, not the other way around. So answered their questions. It's not like she called a press conference.

Please think before you post.

and from what he says! your a piece of shit anyway! go cheat on your wife some more!!!!!

There is a difference between hazed and picked on!

Now you want to say this is what you would expect when at first it was o.k. for my son to be hazed and he just had to accept it. The fact my son would want to react in such a manner does not mean someone is wipping his ass...it means he was violated and angry and would like to get back. Unlike you, we are teaching him to deal with it so he doesn't have to react in a violent way. If you can read correctly it's actually idiots like you with your view points that would make a kid want to go off on someone. He was the victim and your only intelligent post earlier was basically he's being a brat about it. My rearing skills are excellent in the fact he has gone on with his life and he will not attack innocent people for the misconduct of a few. That makes him more of a man than you hiding behind a screen name attacking kids because you were not supported when you were growing up. Your more dangerous than any of the Hazers. Posting under different names to look as if you have support is old news by the way.

There are a lot of idiots on lets run and I wouldn't look for any of them to understand your situation. I have seen a similar situation with my niece. It's down right criminal what they did to my niece in the name of hazing. I have too been hazed during my fresh and soph years in college. I didn't like what happened but it was not criminal nor an assault...just an unpleasant experience. In my niece case it was a criminal assault and should have no place in our society and the hazers got their just rewards. What a lot of you don't realize is the world is changing rapidly and hazing in the days of old are not like the hazings we see today. There are a lot of deviant people in this society and unfortunately some hazing acts are nothing but some sick person forcing their will on another. Don't be offended by the idiot posts on here and I'm glad you and your son are doing better.

I wish we would have to registar on letsrun.com so we could keep up with the retards like you on this forum.