A junior varsity baseball player tied to a goal post in the football field and left there for hours. A group of girls kicked, hit and pelted with fecal matter and fish intestines.

Hazing.

Hazing is the use of initiation rituals by some groups often involving humiliating or difficult tasks to gain entrance into, or acceptance by, the group.

Dismissed by some as harmless fun or "a rite of passage,' hazing can range from mild to severe and can sometimes be dangerous.

From school-wide assemblies where older high school students yell repeatedly at younger students: "Freshmen go home!' to serious incidents where high school athletes are accused of physically harming younger players, hazing is often based on long-standing "traditions.'

In 2000, six players from Yucca Valley High School were accused of being involved in a series of hazing incidents during the football season.

They were arrested for alleged incidents that occurred before the season started. Among the accusations: rape with a foreign object, sexual battery, false imprisonment and conspiracy.

More recently, 11 fraternity members in New York were charged in the hazing death of 18-year-old Walter Dean Jennings, who died March 12 due to brain swelling caused by water intoxication.

While pledging the Psi Epsilon Chi fraternity at Plattsburgh State University of New York, Jennings was forced to drink alcohol and large amounts of water until he vomited several times. At Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Ill., 28 girls and four boys were suspended after a suspected hazing incident May 4 in which five junior girls suffered injuries. A video of the off-campus incident showed a group of junior girls being pummeled, kicked and pelted with objects such as mud, feces and fish entrails.

However, San Bernardino County school administrators and students say hazing is not a problem here. In fact, they claim such hazing rituals are on the decline.

Yucaipa High School junior Drew Gauthier said he has never heard of hazing rituals being performed at his school.

"We don't have that at our school,' said Drew, 16. "Someone might call you names but nothing physical. I haven't seen really anything like that.'

Principal Maureen Latham said the school takes no chances and has a strict "zero-tolerance' on hazing. Physical assaults, hitting or any aggressive activities causing personal injury are subject to punishment ranging from suspension to expulsion, she said.

San Bernardino High School Principal Darryl Adams said the school also has a strict policy on hazing, with punishments ranging from suspension to expulsion or being kicked off a team.

"It's practically nonexistent here,' he said of hazing. "In general, I think it's really on the decline. People really are aware of this issue now and we make sure our coaches help us enforce the rules.'

However, Adams said that he has disciplined students in the past for suspected hazing incidents.

"There have been incidents ranging from sports teams to cliques and clubs,' he said.

"At a school I worked at formerly, we had a male student taped to the goal post and left there for quite a while. It was a baseball team thing and those students were dealt with accordingly. There's no room for that anywhere.'

Team sports are often the stage for hazing rituals.

Rialto resident Denis Charbonneau said he witnessed light hazing incidents that occurred during his years at a private high school. Charbonneau, 20, recalled incidents that occurred when he served as manager for the varsity basketball team.

Upperclassmen, usually seniors, would sometimes rub sports ointment on younger players, he said.

Jim Walker, head football coach at Redlands High School, said long-standing sports programs often have their own traditions. As a result, he said, coaches bear a heavier responsibility than just leading a winning team, they must also act as guardians.

"There's a fine line between what is hazing and what is clean-cut fun and you have to stay on top of that as a coach,' Walker said.

"But unfortunately, coaches cannot be with their players 24-7. So if it happens you deal with it, just like drug abuse or drinking problems, hazing is an issue you address. You don't want your younger players taken advantage of.'

Traditions have a way of changing, sometimes for the worst, he said.

"You could have something that starts off innocent then five years later its sinister,' Walker said. "Unfortunately, it could happen in any program.'

Greek organizations, such as college fraternities and sororities are also often the setting for hazing rituals.

Cal State San Bernardino has a strict "zero-tolerance' policy regarding hazing, said Natalie Morales, who is the university's staff adviser to the Greek organizations. "Cal State has only had a Greek system for less than 20 years our oldest fraternity is only 17 years old,' Morales said. "Typically, you won't see hazing traditions like at some of the East Coast colleges that have been around for years.'

The chapters were established at a time when there was a great deal of public focus on hazing, she said.

Calls to Cal State's Greek council representatives, the student body which oversees the local organizational chapters, were not returned.

For more information on hazing, log onto http://www.stophazing.org.