1. Safety first
- Make sure they're safe and getting any medical care they need, even if it seems minor.
- Keep every medical record: visit summaries, prescriptions, bills and receipts.
2. Save these
- Group chats. Screenshot them. Many apps delete messages automatically.
- Photos and videos, including anything posted and later taken down.
- Texts, call logs and voicemails.
- Names. Who was there, who organized it, who was in charge. Just write them down.
- Anything the group handed out: schedules, rules, new member materials.
- A written timeline. What happened and when, while it's fresh.
3. Protect it
- Back it up somewhere else: email it to yourself or save it to a cloud account.
- Don't delete anything, even if it's embarrassing.
4. Hold off on these
- Don't confront the chapter, the team or anyone involved.
- Don't post about it online.
- Don't sign anything from the school, the organization or an insurance company until you've talked to a lawyer.
For students: you are not in trouble for asking, and you decide what you share and when. For parents: you are not overreacting.
A note on timing: some deadlines in hazing cases are short, especially when a public school is involved. See the deadlines.