I am sure, that like me, you have heard the sordid, story out of Happy Valley and are getting to the point that enough is enough. Well I wanted to have my say on the subject. Penn State officials have started to move in the direction they have to, by dismissing Joe Paterno and some of the other people involved. They need to do more. There are games to be played for the football team and they should play them. Penn State should take the money earned from those games, including television revenues, and give it to organizations that support abused children. They should take the lead in changing, not only the environment at Penn State, but at all universities, and make sure that coaches and administrators are not protected from criminal activities. They should work to educate other schools, the legal system and police system to not only look at the law, but at moral issues, so this never happens again.
Penn State has to reach out to the victims. Find ways to protect them and then help them heal. They should provide, any counseling and financial need all of these victims warrant. They should provide counseling for the families of the victims, so they are better able to support their family members during the healing process.
Penn State should take the lead and work with other institutions of higher education to change the environment from one of privilege, for their sports figures, to one of support and assistance to the entire student community.
The law enforcement people from the local district attorneys to the local police departments, need to be independent of the universities they are in charge of overseeing. They can no longer turn a blind eye, toward the law breakers that are athletes, coaches and administrators. They should not be free to break laws and pursue their own agendas and be held to the same standard as the general population.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Paterno and his achievement as the winning est coach in college football. I wrote about the clean program and no hint of scandal during his forty plus years as head coach. I am now saying that Paterno blew his legacy. He can no longer be thought of as a leader of young people, who deserves the accolades, we have laid as his feet. He deserves none of the praise for the things he accomplished before. He deserves our revulsion and disdain for not protecting those young children. I cannot think of a worse crime then the exploitation and sexual abuse of our children. Paterno destroyed his legacy, all by himself.
