Health

Millburn Hazing: How Bad Is It? Millburn High's History of Hazing

by Jordan Yerman | September 24, 2009 at 10:15 am

996 views | 16 Recommendations | 6 comments

Millburn High School's hazing rituals have made the news via the New York Times' "The Local". According to principal Dr. William Miron, Millburn High has at least a ten-year history of Millburn's senior girls hazing incoming freshman girls. Apparently, the severity of the hazing and bullying at Millburn High, located in Millburn, New Jersey, has increased over the years.

According to conversations of parents in schoolyards and on local listserves, the "hazing" took several forms. Apparently there is an annual "slut list" that gets distributed. The consensus is that this year the list was particularly vulgar, with "hundreds" of copies being distributed in hallways.

Apparently, only some of the freshman girls are singled out for this treatment, with others claiming not to even know that the Millburn hazing takes place at all. At issue is how extreme the hazing is, and how likely it is that such incidents would be reported, especially during the first weeks of school, when a freshman is a stranger in a strange land.

One former student remembers the hazing, and says that it's not that big a deal:

I feel truly sorry for [Principal Dr. William] Miron and [Assistant Principal Dr. Michele] Pitts who do nothing but an excellent job controlling the situation. In my four years at Millburn High school the level of hazing has gone dramatically down. The simple fact is, the cycle will be perpetuated whether the administration does anything or not.

However, a local mom tells a very different story about the hazing at Millburn High.

“She was brutalized, so we moved. She said, ‘I’m not going back,’” the mother said in a phone interview today. “We moved for senior year, it was that bad.”

“She got hazed, the whole pushing in the lockers, the list,” she said, referring to the annual “slut list,” a ten-year tradition at the school. “She was really unhappy; she was miserable.”

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Amy Judd

at 11:15 on September 24th, 2009

Is it an all-girls school then?

CrewMom (not verified)

at 07:17 on September 26th, 2009

No, Millburn High is a co-ed high school in a wealthy, predominantly Jewish suburb bordering Short Hills in north-central NJ. We bid on a house there and were told by friends who are Reform Jews that they wouldn't be made to feel welcome living there so as Gentiles, be prepared for a cold shoulder. Test scores are high, the kids get a great education, but they, like most of our kids in the 'burbs feel that they are entitled to do whatever they want regardless of the consequences because M&D will get them lawyered-up and bail them out. No matter what. I hope that the college admissions people are watching....

jazzyzazzy

at 15:13 on September 24th, 2009

rebels without a clue.

Ally654 (not verified)

at 21:22 on September 24th, 2009

Millburn High School is a great school and this "hazing" incident has been blown out of proportion. Although the list is called the slut list, it is really just the name for the list of girls who are the prettiest and most popular of the incoming class. The freshman all want to be on this list...only six girls were called and told to wear camouflage shirts on the first day, and about 20 did, pretending that they got calls too. The seniors boasted their senior authority on the first day, and lets face it, its senior arrogance, and it happens everywhere.

CrewMom (not verified)

at 07:12 on September 26th, 2009

It's time for both the seniors and their parents (especially their mothers) to grow up. Do this in the 'real world' as an adult, where NO ONE cares if you're a Jewish Princess or who your Daddy is or what he does and you will be hit with either criminal or civil charges. Legal consequences that you will deserve. There is state law that very clearly describes the consequences bullies must face. 'Senior authority' - you have got to be kidding! What is 'Senior authority' but an alleged superiority by a bunch of spoiled, insecure, predatory brats? Those of you with your claws out had better pray that Karma doesn't exist, because if I was one of those Freshman girls you harrassed and I was on call in the emergency room when you were brought in, I think it would be a good time for me to re-apply my Chanel lipstick, check my email or grab another cup of coffee. I'd leave you there on the gurny to bleed out and not lose a minute's sleep over you...

rowboat (not verified)

at 13:05 on September 27th, 2009

"Predominately Jewish," "Jewish American Princess," " -- we see your agenda there Crewmom. You are simply a liar with another agenda. Obviously, Millburn Township has a large Jewish population but it is well less than a majority and the idea that a Gentile would not be welcome is absurd. It is important for people who read these comments to take them with a grain of salt because people like Crewmom are on here with their anti-semitism enjoying this stuff for whatever sick reason.