Westhill HS Hazing

[Newhouser]

The fact that the DA loves a camera helped create this buzz. His hazing on steroids ends with no upgrade in punishment.

 

[PeteCalvin]

Yeah, Westhill is known as the Beverly Hills of Onondaga County.

Not

LOL! Of course it’s not. But some of the online agenda trolls seem to make it out that way.

I think the whole situation is despicable, but I don’t know near enough about the people involved to comment.

 

[wgdsr]

The 14 year old victim is not making that call.

he's not, but jgeorge sure doesn't know what he's talking about.
they have 11 families and insurance policies to go after, and from what i heard getting into the millions is not a stretch.

 

[CLTOrange]

But aren’t they using their $$ and influence to smooth things over for their kids? I think that’s where some are a bit upset by the whole thing. Stupid rich kids doing stupid rich kid things, with seemingly no accountability. I know nothing about the people involved, but that seems to be the crap online.

What $$ and influence? That’s social media hysteria taking hold of a narrative. These aren’t “rich” kids. Some would certainly be upper middle-class but these largely average families. The fact is these kids are being treated like the law in this state dictates. Fitzy knows that an actual kidnapping felony would never stick hence the unlawful detainment misdemeanor. NY law is very forgiving for youthful first time offenders.

 

[CLTOrange]

he's not, but jgeorge sure doesn't know what he's talking about.
they have 11 families and insurance policies to go after, and from what i heard getting into the millions is not a stretch.

Statute of limitations in NY tolls for minors ie the three years doesn’t even start to tick until the targets turn 18. The potential for civil damages likely isn’t as deep as you think it is/would be. Homeowners policies generally don’t have huge liability limits, they usually top out around $100K. There’s the possibility that some have an umbrella but those are tricky and if there are any, the insurer is likely to disclaim coverage due to a criminal act.

 

[Cusefan95]

The biggest question for me (which we'll probably never know the answer) is how does the victim feel about the consequences of this crime for the perpetrators?

If his stance is "These are my friends. They did something incredibly stupid and irresponsible, but I want to move on and continue to be friends and teammates with them" then the punishment probably fits the crime.

But if his stance is "I will have PTSD from this for a long time. I never want to associate with these guys again. and I will probably need counseling" then misdemeanor charges for the main orchestrators probably seem like a joke.

Typically how a victim feels is taken into account in sentencing - not in what perpetrators get charged with. Once the kids turned themselves in, there was almost no chance this would be handled differently than it is. My only negative critique is calling it “hazing on steroids” - likely as a tactic to scare the crap out of the kids to make sure they turned themselves in - was not well thought out. It’s contributing to making this look like extremely light penalties when in reality it’s in line with what should be expected based on precedents.

How victims feel isn’t usually a predominant factor in what a defendant is charged with for good reason - there’s concern that can quickly devolve into mob justice. Admittedly there’s always going to be a balancing act - but if we’re going to take how a victim feels into account in upgrading misdemeanor charges to felonies, I’d be concerned that tips the balance towards undesirable outcomes way too much.

 

[Marsh01]

The whole rich kid comments are bullchit. Im a westhill parent. Classes of 2018 and 2020. I can guarantee you that we arent rich by any stretch. Perception isnt reality and some people are too stupid and just like to spew nonsense.

 

[oldpinepoint]

The whole rich kid comments are bullchit. Im a westhill parent. Classes of 2018 and 2020. I can guarantee you that we arent rich by any stretch. Perception isnt reality and some people are too stupid and just like to spew nonsense.

Yea I mean Westhill district is probably in the middle. Has some nice areas up on Onondaga Hill but also some not so nice areas. Which is true of most communities. Not sure why that perception exists.

 

[HastingsCuse]

You are correct,

The potential for civil damages likely isn’t as deep as you think it is/would be. Homeowners policies generally don’t have huge liability limits, they usually top out around $100K. There’s the possibility that some have an umbrella but those are tricky and if there are any, the insurer is likely to disclaim coverage due to a criminal act.

I agree with you any civil lawsuits are unlikely to result in big payouts and are unlikely to be covered under the families' homeowners' insurance policies. Homeowners' policies cover accidents, not intentional acts. The policies all have exclusions for intentional acts like acts that result in criminal charges. Although there is caselaw in NY that the insurance company may have to pay defense costs (attorneys fees) to defend the lawsuit(s) in some situations depending upon the allegations in the civil complaint. It is much less liekly that the insurance carrier will pay any settlement or damages awarded a jury.

 

[CLTOrange]

what do you mean move on and forward? to where?

Not sure if this is a serious question or if I’m possibly missing your point. There are 5 kids that were targeted and 21 others that are trying to make peace with the entirety of the situation. They are trying to look forward to summer vacations and club season. They would like the news stories and social media cesspool to end and just be left alone to enjoy whatever other things they have going on - in short they want to move on and move forward to whatever is next in their lives. The adults who are not connected to them should probably do the same.

 

[whobut03]

The whole rich kid comments are bullchit. Im a westhill parent. Classes of 2018 and 2020. I can guarantee you that we arent rich by any stretch. Perception isnt reality and some people are too stupid and just like to spew nonsense.

I went to Westhill ('06) and have 2 kids in the district (Walberta and Cherry Road). Completely agree with this. Are there wealthier families in the district? Sure. Are there families with lower income? Yep... But it's just like any other community/district.

I will offer this as to why I think this perception exists (as BS as this perception is). The Westhill district line and the Syracuse City School District Line boarder each other. It is at this boarder where one of (if not the) the largest median income difference in the COUNTRY exists.

 

[Eric15]

Not sure if this is a serious question or if I’m possibly missing your point. There are 5 kids that were targeted and 21 others that are trying to make peace with the entirety of the situation. They are trying to look forward to summer vacations and club season. They would like the news stories and social media cesspool to end and just be left alone to enjoy whatever other things they have going on - in short they want to move on and move forward to whatever is next in their lives. The adults who are not connected to them should probably do the same.

That sentence feels very cringey to me. Their summers should consist of a ton of community service, at minimum. They still have a debt to society.

 

[wgdsr]

Not sure if this is a serious question or if I’m possibly missing your point. There are 5 kids that were targeted and 21 others that are trying to make peace with the entirety of the situation. They are trying to look forward to summer vacations and club season. They would like the news stories and social media cesspool to end and just be left alone to enjoy whatever other things they have going on - in short they want to move on and move forward to whatever is next in their lives. The adults who are not connected to them should probably do the same.

i wasn't sure your post was a serious one. the story broke all of 3 weeks ago, it hasn't been a year long thing, and then follow ups and the most recent re: adjudicating it, again just several weeks out of the event. i'm not sure if your 21 number includes the 11 perpetrators, but for those 11, that's just too bad.

as far as the 5 and especially the 1, i can only hope they get an outcome that they feel is justified. they don't control that, neither does anyone commenting about it. "moving on" can be your choice or anyone else's to opine. this isn't an isolated incident. there's bullying, forced hazing, stuff that goes on everywhere that's impossible to fully regulate, and it affects a lot of adolescents. sometimes not in a small way. if anybody feels they wish to share an opinion about this, the larger problem, dangers about it, hoped for guardrails by way of deterrents in this case and vis a vis others in the future, that's open game.

 

[PeteCalvin]

The whole rich kid comments are bullchit. Im a westhill parent. Classes of 2018 and 2020. I can guarantee you that we arent rich by any stretch. Perception isnt reality and some people are too stupid and just like to spew nonsense.

I get it. I only stated what I saw in a few of the online troll social media posts. Some people out there in the e-world were pushing this narrative, but to what end I have no idea. I am very familiar with the district and know the area. Some people are clowns.

 

[CLTOrange]

That sentence feels very cringey to me. Their summers should consist of a ton of community service, at minimum. They still have a debt to society.

You’re misinterpreting this. There were 37 kids on the varsity total. Take out the 11 perpateators out and you’re left with 26 kids that were targeted or uninvolved. Those 26 are trying to move on. The other 11 will be having a much different summer than they envisioned a few months ago.

 

[Cheriehoop]

You’re misinterpreting this. There were 37 kids on the varsity total. Take out the 11 perpateators out and you’re left with 26 kids that were targeted or uninvolved. Those 26 are trying to move on. The other 11 will be having a much different summer than they envisioned a few months ago.

Weren’t most, if not all, of the 11 involved seniors who will be gone next year? Those 26 uninvolved kids sure have learned a very tough lesson the hard way because of those 11.

 

[CLTOrange]

Weren’t most, if not all, of the 11 involved seniors who will be gone next year? Those 26 uninvolved kids sure have learned a very tough lesson the hard way because of those 11.

Largely but not exclusively. I won’t divulge exact information since I don’t want to unintentionally dox anyone.

 

[CLTOrange]

i wasn't sure your post was a serious one. the story broke all of 3 weeks ago, it hasn't been a year long thing, and then follow ups and the most recent re: adjudicating it, again just several weeks out of the event. i'm not sure if your 21 number includes the 11 perpetrators, but for those 11, that's just too bad.

as far as the 5 and especially the 1, i can only hope they get an outcome that they feel is justified. they don't control that, neither does anyone commenting about it. "moving on" can be your choice or anyone else's to opine. this isn't an isolated incident. there's bullying, forced hazing, stuff that goes on everywhere that's impossible to fully regulate, and it affects a lot of adolescents. sometimes not in a small way. if anybody feels they wish to share an opinion about this, the larger problem, dangers about it, hoped for guardrails by way of deterrents in this case and vis a vis others in the future, that's open game.

The 11 perpetrators are not in that 21 - there were 37 kids on the team prior to the incident. The 11 will get the consequences prescribed by the applicable judge in either family court or town court. I am not particularly concerned about them nor would I assume, is anyone else.
You are certainly correct that anyone is free to opine on this or any other subject however, I will again reiterate that there are 26 kids that have to deal with every article, news story, social media flury, etc. It has been a bit exhausting for some caught in the middle and they should be afforded the opportunity to go on without this spector looming overhead.
I do agree that we should be having conversations about hazing because we all know that it exists to some degree everywhere. This isn’t a Westhill problem, it’s a societal problem and the focus needs to shift away from the farce of ‘rich white Westhill’ to why is this even a thing in 2025. How many kids across this country need to get hurt physically or emotionally or die every year from this garbage? And I say that in full acknowledgement of my own involvement in that behavior in high school and college many many moons ago. This is an US issue not just a Westhill incident that is used to drive clicks for the local news outlets.
Sorry for the rant and it’s not directed at you nor this board, regardless of how absurdly bi-polar it is on here during an SU game Like I said it’s been a bit exhausting.

 

[Bill Orange]

The whole rich kid comments are bullchit. Im a westhill parent. Classes of 2018 and 2020. I can guarantee you that we arent rich by any stretch. Perception isnt reality and some people are too stupid and just like to spew nonsense.

If Westhill is the Bevery Hills of Onondaga County, would Abbott's Frozen Custard be their Peach Pit?

 

[justgold315]

If Westhill is the Bevery Hills of Onondaga County, would Abbott's Frozen Custard be their Peach Pit?

Why is Andrea 40 years old and still in highschool

 

[BomberOrange]

That sentence feels very cringey to me. Their summers should consist of a ton of community service, at minimum. They still have a debt to society.

Easy Eric. You’re missing the point. He’s taking about the kids NOT involved. Smh

 

[Eric15]

You’re misinterpreting this. There were 37 kids on the varsity total. Take out the 11 perpateators out and you’re left with 26 kids that were targeted or uninvolved. Those 26 are trying to move on. The other 11 will be having a much different summer than they envisioned a few months ago.

My bad. I misread it.

 

[Eric15]

Easy Eric. You’re missing the point. He’s taking about the kids NOT involved. Smh

As a self inflicted punishment, I will turn myself into the DA within 48 hours for accidentally misreading that post.