National Hazing Prevention Week is from September 24-28, 2018 and colleges from around the nation will be educating their students on how to stop this dangerous trend.

California State University Bakersfield (CSUB) is hosting several workshops this week for their students to eliminate hazing.

Monday, September 24, they kicked off the celebration with messages from ASI President Ashley Schmidt and other campus leaders at 1:30 p.m. At 7:00 p.m., public speaker and attorney Joe Richardson with Borton Petrini Law addressed the students about the laws surrounding hazing and how to get the most out of your year in college. 

"They are in a period, this is the time of their lives, literally, and it can make a difference if they treat it the right way, a great college experience can literally catapult you," said Richardson. 

This week will continue Tuesday with a screening of the movie HAZE, followed by Q&A with a panel of experts in the Student Union Multipurpose Room at 5:30 p.m. Events and workshops will continue at CSUB throughout the week. 

According to HazingPrevention.org, "Hazing is any action is taken, or any situation created intentionally that causes embarrassment, harassment or ridicule, and risks emotional and/or physical harm to members of a group or team, whether new or not, regardless of the person’s willingness to participate." 

Hazing is not just in Greek life, said Jose Garcia, a Greek life assistant at CSUB Office of Student Involvement. 

"It affects the workplace, the athletics, marching bands and clubs, and organizations across the board. It happens everywhere we don't really think about that," said Garcia.

HazingPrevention.orgsaid hazing could come in many forms. Here are just a few definitions:

• Activities meant to ‘earn’ a place within an organization or team that seems inconsistent with someone’s character or values
• Activities that are embarrassing or mentally/physically abusive
• Forced or coerced abuse of alcohol, drugs, foods
• Personal servitude or meaningless tasks
• Willingness to participate does not absolve responsibility for either party

For more resources and information on hazing, you can visit HazingPrevention.org .