Dues as hazing?

[nolesrule]

When I was a senior in high school, I did very poorly on a test. My teacher decided it was appropriate to inform all of my classmates just how badly I did.

 

Was it teasing? Was it embarrassing? Was it negative reinforcement? It was all of those things. I didn't like it one bit, and I do not respond well to negative reinforcement.

 

I went straight to my assistant principal and told him I wasn't setting foot in that classroom again if I had to endure a teacher like that. Well, the teacher kept her job of course, but the assistant principal did make arrangements so that I never had to set foot in that classroom again. I ended up doing self-study and hiring a private tutor so that I would still pass the class (and the AP-like exam at the end of the year).

 

So yeah, calling someone out in public for not paying their dues is inappropriate. Especially when times are tough.

 

I also serve as treasurer for a business networking group. When people are late with their dues, which are paid quarterly, I'll make a public announcement that some in the group still owe money, but I'll deal with the specific people privately. No one should ever be humiliated over a financial situation.

 

Now, if they have the money but just aren't paying, that's a different situation from not having the money at all. Still, that's know reason to call an individual out in public like that.

[Hal_Crawford]

I think teasing and humiliation are in the eyes of the recipient. There are things that I can say to one friend that I cannot say to another. The first would take it in jest and probably fire one back at me but the other would be deeply wounded. You need to know who is who, what their threshold is and be ready to apologize profusely if and when you go too far.

[BadenP]

When I was a SM if a boy couldn't make dues because of financial trouble at home he would be excused until things got better, no one else ever knew either. No hazing ever occured over money either because most of the parents were hard working blue collar types and layoffs did occur with some frequency.