I am not one who usually comments on current events in my parenting blog, but sometimes the current events overlap with my life in such a way that I can’t hold back. You see, Scott is an alumnus of Penn State. And we were living in Happy Valley from 1996-2000, around the same time that the predatory Jerry Sandusky was ruining the lives of at least eight young men – no, eight boys who have deserved better than the load of crap life has given them.
I made a serious error in judgment when I read the paperwork handed down from the grand jury investigation. One: reading accounts like that make me never want to let my children leave my sight. Two: I get so angry when I hear of children being victimized that I don’t sleep for days on end. And three: I know that the behavior of Penn State officials is not congruent with the behavior of the Penn Staters I met, know, and have come to love.
Shame on you Timothy Curley and Gary Schultz for treating sexual abuse like a parking ticket. Shame on you, Graham Spanier, for not recognizing the seriousness of the issue. And shame on you, JoePa, for playing defense with your reputation instead of offense to save these children.
The Happy Valley I know and love is full of arts, culture, and history. Even without the Almighty Penn State Football Team, State College is teeming with scientific exploration, artistic genius, and scholars producing important works. There are caring people and a tremendous faculty. This behavior is an aberration of mighty proportions.
As a parent, the lesson I learn is that it is NOT normal for a middle-aged man to lavish attention on a pre-teen child that is not his own. That if I were to have caught a naked adult in a shower with a naked child, you can bet my first call is to 911 – that I wouldn’t sleep on it a night and report it to the naked adult’s friend and co-worker. Oh, and that I would stop whatever was happening to the child right then and there, my own safety an afterthought. That if I did report such an act and didn’t hear about an investigation or an arrest, my next step is the media, rights to privacy be damned.
You don’t get to hurt children. If you do, you do not deserve to have it covered up by officials more concerned with record-breaking football than with the safety of children. You don’t deserve cheers and accolades from generations of fans.
And you don’t deserve to call yourself a Nittany Lion.
4 comments:
I am so very much with you on this. I know very well what I would have done, and that is stop it, report him, fire him, expose him to the media and/or be sure he was arrested. Kids deserve better, and so does Penn State. I don't care how good a coach somebody is. Child abuse deserves nothing less than a swift trip to jail.
Excellent post! It's been a while since I've entered the blogosphere. I've missed reading your posts.
Awesome post. I graduated from Penn State in '94 and I am absolutely sickened by everything - especially the fact that McQueary still has a job. He should have been one of the first ones, if not THE first one, to go.
I just hope and pray that the victims and their families will get the justice that they deserve so that they can heal.
Amy
I've actually laid awake in bed thinking about this same subject and I thought I shouldn't address on it my blog but then a friend sent this to me and I was THRILLED you said what I have been thinking on many fronts. I don't know how any of these people slept at night and continued on, justifying that any of this was right. It is disgusting. There is no character. There is no leadership. This is unjust and I only hope justice is served years later for the victims. Thank you.
Katie...a new follower from ND
http://www.pinkepost.com
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