Surviving College

Finally a movie about the truth of fraternities. It is the beginning of a new semester at colleges across the country. It is also a time when young guys have to decide if they will try to join a fraternity. The rituals of acceptance re out of control and have been having deadly consequences on some young men. Finally a movie has been made starring Nick Jonas showing the graphic suffering that takes place. Fraternity hazing is a big problem and t some colleges fraternities have been banned from campuses like at Dartmouth. We all want to be accepted especially when we are suddenly thrown into a new place far from our home and controlling parents. At what price must it come to be accepted?

The movie is called Goat and is not even as graphic as some colleges’ antics. They call it hell week when all the suffering and endurance trials take place. This movies shows men in their 20’s that have no real consequences for their actions. There is a pact mentality that even leads to rape of women on campus. So far in movies the view of fraternities have been looked at as the ultimate in uncontrolled fun. Animal House was a movie where the main character maintained a 0.0 grade point level for q7 years. The movie Neighbors presents college as one continuous party. The movie called Goat is set at a fraternity and is not a comedy. Finally reality is being shown in the movies where shy, virgin males   are being killed, tortured and ruined for the rest of their lives. The reality of fraternity life on campus.

There are more than 6,000 fraternities around the country. The on line videos depict the cool kids just having a party and of course all the pretty girls that just want to hang around with you.  Meanwhile at least one person has died from hazing every year since 1969. That seems to be the real tradition.  In 2013 a young man from Baruch College was forced to run across a frozen field blindfolded carrying 30 pound backpacks all while being assaulted. He passed out and it took the fraternity more than 2 hours to call 911. He died.

It is not friending or acceptance. It is about manipulation and the abuse of power in a mob. Read Rosalind Wiseman’s book called Masterminds and Wingmen to find out more as to why the boys do this to each other. It is bonding in a superficial way to being a man. Drinking and partying as much as you can wins points  or likes not good behavior or good grades. The movie is graphic and yet many men say that in real life the hazing gets to be even worse. What is worse is that the pressure to be part of these groups is immense on college campuses. They got you believing that there is no social life without a fraternity.

I never thought I would have hoped that anyone would watch Nick Jonas do anything but this movie deserves to be watched and a discussion should be made with your sons and daughters and campus officials to stop the violence.