Mentoring Event Turned Into Hazing Ritual: Student
Student says freshmen girls forced to pole-dance on street signs and simulate sex acts
By OMAR VILLAFRANCA
Updated 8:16 PM CST, Tue, Oct 6, 2009
Underage drinking, smoking marijuana and pole-dancing aren't exactly high school traditions to be proud of, but a Dallas high school student said it all happened during an event billed as a "tradition" with chaperons.
The Big Sis-Lil Sis event at Woodrow Wilson High School is intended to allow freshman girls to get mentored by junior girls and provide a way for them to get to know the school and each other.
But at least one freshman and her parents said last week's event felt more like a hazing ritual.
The girl, who did not want to be identified to avoid retaliation at school, said she and her fellow 9th-graders were driven around blindfolded after they were picked up early Friday morning.
She said the girls were forced for several hours into uncomfortable situations that included yelling obscenities at fast-food drive-through windows and pole-dancing on street signs.
She said they were also covered with eggs, flour, mustard, ketchup and mayonnaise, forced to take off their bras and wear them around their necks and run through sprinkler systems wearing their pajamas. The teenager also said that several of the freshman girls were forced to simulate oral sex with a cucumber.
The girl said she peeked out from under her blindfold at one of the stops to find more than a dozen older high school boys there with the group in a parking lot.
She said she didn't know where the parking lot was, but could see the boys drinking alcohol and could smell marijuana smoke in the air. The 11th-grade girls forced one of the freshman girls to give a "lap dance" to several of the boys while some of the older girls took photographs, she said.
The Dallas Independent School District said the event is under investigation.
"The district received information this afternoon about an alleged incident involving students from Woodrow Wilson High School," said DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander in a statement. "The proper authorities have been notified, and an investigation is under way."
An official close to the investigation said law enforcement officials were called and that Child Protective Services was contacted.
First Published: Oct 6, 2009 1:20 AM CST
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