Tri-Service
Military Initiation Ceremonies Poll: The Results
The results are in... and Forces TV's audience has spoken.
After a number of stories hit the headlines recently surrounding behaviour at forces 'initiation ceremonies' or parties, we asked your thoughts on the issue.
This week saw three Royal Marines sentenced to military detention for subjecting a young colleague to "40 minutes of depravity and naked humiliation" during an initiation ceremony.
A number of Army soldiers, meanwhile, could face disciplinary action after footage emerged appearing to show troops at Britain's largest Army base bare-knuckle boxing and drinking human waste.
Our question: "Should military initiation ceremonies be banned?"
As you can see, there was a clear winner, with 68.5% of respondents not in favour of a ban, and 31.5% in favour.
One of the arguments in support of the majority was the idea of initiation ceremonies being character building.
One commenter said "it's all part of the character building and getting over your sensitivities", while another argued "it's a part of army life that builds group cohesion".
Others, however, saw things differently.
One voter said "absolutely ban this behaviour... completely unacceptable", while another pointed to personal experience, saying: "been through one myself and found it utterly stupid, and irrelevant."
Another, meanwhile, questioned whether a ban would actually have any affect. They said:
"It's a rite of passage and will happen if they are banned anyway."
Whether changes are made remains to be seen, but as ever, keep your eyes on Forces TV for all the latest developments.
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