By the logic of some hazing laws, we should make guns, cars, alcohol and many other human activities illegal in America because of a small number of exceptions.

I work in the media and am somewhat rare because I was a member of two fraternities and hazed twice as a result of transferring to another university. I also was deeply involved in fraternity life at the university level and interacted quite a bit with many fraternities and sororities.

The media has made hazing a favorite punching bag because of the exceptions and because of the alleged “elitism” stigma that the media (including Hollywood) has slapped on fraternities and sororities.

The hazing I went through both times was mild, non-violent and didn’t involve sex, alcohol or anything else either illegal or immoral. It was a good-natured way to build brotherhood among the pledges. My fellow Greeks and I were not aware of any incident coming even close to the exceptions that get blasted in the media.

Yes, there is bad hazing, and any of it involving sex, alcohol or violence should be illegal. But let’s make sure we know the difference between abusive hazing and practices that encourage positive and healthy social bonding.