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arkitect

macrumors 604
Original poster
Sep 5, 2005
7,077
12,466
Bath, United Kingdom
Of all the stupid things students do this takes the cake.

Fifteen university students have been permanently scarred after branding themselves with heated coat hangers.

The group from the University of Exeter branded their chests with the initial of the halls they lived in last year.

A reshaped metal coat hanger was heated on a stove before being pressed against the participants' flesh for 10 seconds.

Following the private house party last month, three of the branded students were treated in hospital and given antibiotics to fight infections.

A burns specialist has warned the students will have permanent scarring.

BBC
 

edesignuk

Moderator emeritus
Mar 25, 2002
19,232
2
London, England
This branding thing is weird. I remember seeing a programme about it, how people are branding themselves rather than getting tattoos, crazy people I tell ya!
 

poopyhead

macrumors 6502a
Quite a few idiots make it to first tier schools. Either they have filthy rich parents paying their way (Dubya comes to mind) often with legacy status greasing the wheels as well, or they are on athletics scholarships.
Cheers,

Ahmed

many people with filthy rich parents but it is one of the few schools with no real athletics and where legacy status does not matter when applying

in fact we've been "undefeated since 1836" because we've never played
 

mscriv

macrumors 601
Aug 14, 2008
4,923
602
Dallas, Texas
The "will have permanent scarring" part of the story is funny. Um, yeah! The whole point of branding to leave a permanent scar in the shape of the brand. I know a guy who did it to himself with a couple of friends in high school. Truly, the practice is not some extremely rare thing in that some varieties of college fraternities practice it with regularity. Though I haven't done it myself and wouldn't consider doing it the truth is branding is really no different than any other form of body art. The problem is people who don't do their research and don't seek appropriate medical attention.
 

andiwm2003

macrumors 601
Mar 29, 2004
4,382
454
Boston, MA
The "will have permanent scarring" part of the story is funny. Um, yeah! The whole point of branding to leave a permanent scar in the shape of the brand. I know a guy who did it to himself with a couple of friends in high school. Truly, the practice is not some extremely rare thing in that some varieties of college fraternities practice it with regularity. Though I haven't done it myself and wouldn't consider doing it the truth is branding is really no different than any other form of body art. The problem is people who don't do their research and don't seek appropriate medical attention.

there are also some tribes that do branding in africa. so although it's stupid to do this in that context and with coat hangers, branding itself is a valid cultural phenomenon.

i wouldn't do it to myself and certainly not with a coat hangar. that's really stupid.
 

RedTomato

macrumors 601
Mar 4, 2005
4,155
442
.. London ..
It is possible they used closed loops in the design. It's my understanding that with branding and scarification, you don't want to have closed loops, as the skin in the middle has a higher risk of dying off or getting infected through lack of blood supply / lymph drainage / other things I don't know about.

Getting drunk before doing it would also suppress the auto-immune system and raise the risk of infection. Poor after-care would be a factor too.

All in all, I don't think hospital treatment was really warranted, but then I wasn't there.
 

yoppie

macrumors 6502a
Oct 19, 2007
870
0
There are a few fraternities at my school whose members brand themselves. Crazy.
 

savoirfaire

macrumors 6502
Nov 23, 2003
350
34
New England
I'm not sure branding is that different from tattooing or piercing. They clearly knew what they were getting into, and all of them involve risk of infection.
 

andiwm2003

macrumors 601
Mar 29, 2004
4,382
454
Boston, MA
coat hanger are usually low quality metal that is prone to have contaminants that you might be allergic to. this makes then for extra deep and wide scars. if you want a branding scar let a pro in a good tatoo shop do it. looks certainly much nicer afterwards. also you're not likely to be drunk like that when you do it.
 

mscriv

macrumors 601
Aug 14, 2008
4,923
602
Dallas, Texas
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Yeah but,

sober + branding = pain :eek:

drunk + branding = fun with a nice surprise after you wake up :D
 

jaw04005

macrumors 601
Aug 19, 2003
4,513
402
AR
Well, at least they didn’t try it with plastic hangers. There’s some hope for them.
 

BrianKonarsMac

macrumors 65816
Apr 28, 2004
1,102
83
really, this is news?

Yes, students are stupid - especially when there are copious amounts of liquor and drugs involved.
 

rdowns

macrumors Penryn
Jul 11, 2003
27,397
12,521
Nobody listens to their mothers anymore.


mommiedear4(2).jpg
 

jjvdhoef

macrumors member
May 19, 2009
59
17
there are also some tribes that do branding in africa. so although it's stupid to do this in that context and with coat hangers, branding itself is a valid cultural phenomenon.

i wouldn't do it to myself and certainly not with a coat hangar. that's really stupid.

Just because some culture does it, doesn't make it "valid". India has a caste system, but that doesn't make it ok.
 

savoirfaire

macrumors 6502
Nov 23, 2003
350
34
New England
Just because some culture does it, doesn't make it "valid". India has a caste system, but that doesn't make it ok.

You're getting into a separate discussion about ethics and/or morality. I don't think andiwm2003 was saying that branding is "ok" in general. I think he/she was simply saying that there are cultural traditions of branding and that, in some cases, the practice carries some cultural significance. Obviously, that does not apply in this case.
 

TheOnlyJon

macrumors 6502a
Jul 25, 2009
677
1
Indianapolis
One of the fraternities here at my university does that on the right butt cheek of their brothers...friend across the hall was sitting on a towel for two weeks.

LOL. :eek:
 
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