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It makes me sad

I still have so many thoughts swarming around my head regarding the Jerry Sandusky-Penn State scandal, but I cannot take the time to write them all down. And there is no way anyone would want to read paragraph after paragraph even if I could.

So let me briefly (for me) sum up my thoughts as of right now.

The whole situation is sad. So incredibly sad for the kids, but sad for others too. Sad for the people who thought they were doing the right thing but may not have been. Sad for the people who should have done more and probably knew it. Sad for the reputation of a great school. Sad for coach who did so much for a university. Sad for the fans. Sad for the students. Sad for the community. Sad for sports. Sad for parents. Just sad.

I know that Joe Paterno needed to no longer be the coach. I had hoped he would have stepped down on his own, but he did not. I know PSU's cutting ties with him is the right thing to do, but that does not mean that it is not sad. I hate that this is how JoePa is going to be remembered, at least for now. And I can't imagine anyone else coaching the team.

As an honest, moral person, I hope the truth comes out and we find out who did and said what (and who covered up what, and what was covered up). As I said elsewhere, the one good thing that may come from all of this is people will hopefully be more likely to speak up for victims and not assume that someone else is going to take care of it. We owe that to each other and especially children.

That is all for now.

We are
still Penn State.

Just a little less so.
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Comments

Anonymous said…
I read somewhere that some senator or rep introduced a law which would make it a crime not to report a child sexual assualt.
November 11, 2011 at 8:59 AM
Facie said…
Sherri: I keep saying that over and over.

Anonymous: Here is the info from the PG:

State Rep. Dan Deasy, D-Westwood, said he will introduce legislation expanding requirements on the mandatory reporting of suspected sexual abuse of a child to law enforcement.

The bill would require anyone who witnesses a sex crime against a child or anyone who is told by a direct witness of such a crime to report it to police. Failure to report such violations could result in a third-degree felony charge, which carries a sentence of up to seven years in jail.

The current mandatory reporting law only requires individuals who witness abuse to report such instances to their direct supervisor or authority of the institution. The law pertains to those who work with children directly including physicians, nurses, teachers and social workers.

At the risk of opening up another can of worms, I am thinking seven years is too steep. But I agree that there needs to be a change.
November 11, 2011 at 10:06 AM
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