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Penn State, Joe Paterno, and the morals of a civil society

By: BA Cyclone (Diary)  |  November 15th, 2011 at 05:00 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

 

I can’t say I have watched all the coverage this week of the fiasco that has been Penn State University and their football program, or more appropriately the personnel within their football program.

I must say however that it saddens me, and even sickens me that thousands of students would riot in “support” of a football coach who allegedly had some (small) role in continuing this madness beyond when it should have stopped.

Now I won’t make the mistake of laying this whole episode at the feet of Joe Paterno. That would be ridiculous. Even if the allegations in the leaked stories are true, the unspeakable acts done to young boys are truly the responsibility of one person, and that is not a Paterno. Moreover, Paterno and others within the program allegedly did follow through with the “legal minimum” in reporting the incidents, and thus he and they are not criminally implicated in these allegations.

I can appreciate that Joe Paterno is not just your average football coach. His presence is truly legendary not just at Penn State, but in the sport of college football. The Paterno family’s legacy is interspersed throughout the University, not just within its football program. Many hundreds of young men owe thanks and gratitude for the positive impact that Joe Paterno has had in their lives.

What saddens me, however are the (possibly) dozens of young men whose lives are irreparably harmed because men who should know better, possibly including Joe Paterno did not forcefully speak out when given that chance.

What appears clear is that several men had the opportunity to end this horrific tale many years ago. For reasons only they can understand, they did not. These men who act as pillars of society could not find the courage, given the chance, to “do the right thing” and forcefully stop a colleague from unspeakably hurting young boys.

For needed perspective I’ll quote Carey Casey, director at the National Center for Fathering, who asked this question:

“Would their response have been different if the 10-year-old victim had been their son or grandson?”

As I watched thousands of young people wailing and gnashing their teeth (and flipping a media van) about the fate of an 84-year-old man who should have known better, I wondered what they would have thought if it was their brother who allegedly could thank Joe Paterno (among others) for not speaking out to protect these young boys?

As I watched Joe Paterno’s son speak a quick line to a camera after the football game on Saturday, seeming quite sad about his father’s fate, I could only hope to wonder who was all the more sad for all the children who had been needlessly hurt because Joe Paterno allegedly couldn’t bring himself to vigorously bring needed shame to a friend? Just what were authorities at Penn State supposed to do once the facts were known? Later, Jay Paterno rightly pointed the focus of his concern on the real victims of this evil – the boys.

  • At a minimum, these young boys are emotionally scarred for life.
  • Their fathers surely would like to have a few minutes alone with each “man” who could have forcefully spoken up, but did not.
  • Their mothers must be weeping for the emotional damages done to their boy by a “man” who should have protected them, and by “men” who effectively protected him.
  • Their brothers and sisters must feel ashamed and confused about what this all means and why their brother is so much different now…or maybe a lot of their family history now makes sense.
  • The future wives of these young boys will certainly find some level of pain and suffering as these boys, now men try to find healthy and proper ways to express love and caring to their spouse in spite of their emotional scars.
  • The children of these young men will have their relationship with their father altered in an unhealthy way as their father must deal with emotional obstacles that should not be there.

Again, I don’t lay all the responsibility, or even the majority for these unspeakable things at the feet of Joe Paterno, or anyone else save the person who actually committed the crimes. Allegedly, Joe Paterno and others at least did the legal minimum to report the crimes. But if all these allegations are true, it appears if Joe Paterno and others within the PSU Athletic Department had vigorously “done the right thing” rather than effectively protect a colleague, the network of damaged people I mentioned above would be smaller. For people in their positions of authority, is the “legal minimum” really good enough?

I refer you once more to the quote I cite from Carey Casey above. I am not interested in people trusted with authority carrying out legal minimums for reporting crimes against children. Instead I choose to discern just what level of advocacy we expect from adults in our community. Children cannot advocate for themselves. Instead adults must do that for them as we are all entrusted with their care. I am not an “it takes a village” advocate; however when it comes to the care of children we must all seek a standard that treats the value and protection of children from evil with the highest standards of judgment.

So as I watched the spectacle of outcries for Joe Paterno’s fate this week, I want to instead focus my own sliver of energy upon speaking for the actual victims in this fiasco – all of them not men, but boys.

I am thankful that the Board of Trustees at Penn State University finally “did the right thing” themselves and gave no quarter to men in authority and representation of their University. The Trustees sought the highest standard for authorities, and that is to be commended. These are all men who should have known better, and in my view only have themselves to thank for their dismissal from employment at Penn State University. While many of these people may have done the “legal minimum” in their individual cases, their zeal for seeking justice for the real victims was allegedly lacking…although hindsight is always 20/15.

The actions of Penn State’s Board of Trustees allowed interim president Rodney Erickson to definitively state, “Never again should anyone at Penn State — regardless of their position — feel scared to do the right thing.”

I do pray that Joe Paterno and his family can find true peace and forgiveness. I hope that the rumors and leaked details in this case are not true, for their sake and for the sake of untold boys harmed by their colleague after they knew there was likely a serious problem.

More appropriately, I pray that the boys (many of them now men) and their families find healing and the peace that passes all human understanding. I save my sorrow and grief solely for them.

As adults, we have the most solemn responsibility to raise and protect the future generations. Let’s pause to remember that serious responsibility. These responsibilities and virtues will always transcend the temporary values we place upon constructs of the world.

Cross-posted at BA Cyclone

COMMENTS

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  • Craigpennsylvania

    I meant innocent until proven guilty.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    In addition, it’s a serious financial distraction to the concept of a higher education. There are probably – at most – half a dozen programs that actually turn a profit for their school (and Penn State was likely one of those).

    This is the opportunity – which won’t be taken – to focus higher education on education and stop big time college football. Let the NFL – and NBA – set up and pay for their own farm systems. Bottom line, shut down the football program at Penn State.

  • Raven

    Except inside the media itself.

    Joe Paterno did everything he was supposed to. he informed his boss, the boss of the accused and the head of the local police department responsible for the jurisdiction. That none of those other people did what They were supposed to do should not reflect at all on Joe Paterno.

    This has even been reported several times inside the media right before the “reporters” say, “…but he really should have…”

    I have been away for the Army for the last month and even I managed to pick up on that point.

    That’s why there is rioting. Joe Paterno is a good man and a major symbol in Central PA and in college football and what is being done to him is wrong and potentially criminal. He did nothing wrong and is being crucified for the crimes of others.

  • Raven

    Pays for every other extra-curricular program at that university. You shut it down, you shut them all down.
    Furthermore, why not football rather than, say, wrestling, or gymnastics, or band, or baseball?

  • Raven

    Firing the accused was not an option Paterno had, it was not within his power. Watching him 24/7…? Paterno is 84 and was still over 75 back when he was told about what was happening. He has spent a great deal of time since 2002 in the hospital for health and injury problems. He never had first-hand knowledge, only unsupported allegations.

    He did the right thing. The fact that the Police, the School and the State Government (DAs and Judges at least that we know about), chose to protect the accused as far back as 1998, should have no bearing on Joe Paterno because He Did The Right Thing.

  • BA Cyclone

    You say “he did the right thing” and “did everything he was supposed to”.

    My counter, as I said above, is that (based upon what we know from the reporting) do you believe you would still hold that opinion of Paterno (and others) if the victim was your son, your brother, or someone you know personally?

    I am not seeking the legal minimum standard. IF (big qualification) what is in the depositions is accurate, I think Paterno and others can and should be held to a higher standard than that. I’m not talking about criminal responsibility, I’m talking about moral responsibility.

    Yes they reported the potential crime, and “took his key away” from the locker room. But that’s it? When I put myself into the position of the families of those boys, I’d be pretty ticked that this animal was effectively allowed to roam inside the program as he was, AFTER the clear evidence of a real problem was known.

    I suspect people rioted because they thought Joe Paterno was being made the scapegoat. Personally, assuming the facts in the reported documents are accurate, I think the administration had no choice to do exactly what they did. I do believe it is reasonable to have expected more from the leadership in the program, the athletic department, and everyone involved.

  • Raven

    I would expect the child to say something and I would most definitely expect the eyewitness to have been screaming it from the rooftops. But mostly, I would want to get my hands on the people Paterno told. It was THEIR responsibility to act and they failed to do so. Paterno can only be held responsible for how and to whom he shared what he was told and he did everything right in that regard.

    But Paterno was approached with an unsubstantiated allegation and took it to everyone he should have: The police, his boss, the school President, etc. That THEY failed to do what They should have done is not Paterno’s fault. And it wasn’t just 1 person, either. Paterno didn’t just nudge someone’s elbow and say, “Hey, I just got told…”
    No. He went out to half a dozen people of authority, any 1 of which could have brought all this to an end rather shortly. And not a one of them did a bloody thing. Paterno did not do the legal minimum.

    Furthermore, have you ever heard of a little thing our justice system is supposed to be based on? They call it “Innocent until proven guilty.”

    To really do any more than take the guy’s locker room key prior to an investigation being launched would have also violated his rights. You are demanding Paterno act on “the seriousness of the charges” rather than the evidence or the law.
    In connection with this is that, having informed the people Paterno did of what he’d been told (boy, that sure sounds weak, doesn’t it? Think about it), and seeing nothing happen, might you think, in his shoes, that perhaps the allegation had been determined to be unfounded and refocused on what has always been paramount in your mind, as he did?

    Something I have learned today since posting that last, however, is that the unfair treatment of Paterno was only a part of the reason behind the rioting. The bulk of the people out there wanted the accused’s head (both of them, short and danglies optional).

    I find your second to last sentence to be illuminating, however. You wrote this entire post on what you “suspect.” You actually Know very little, if anything, about the situation.

  • Craigpennsylvania

    There is no such thing as a legal minimum. Can we establish this? The law did not say anything like “In the case of someone reporting potential child abuse, the legal minimum is that you do “A” and “B”. However, you might want to look at doing “C” and “D” as well.

    The law states that an employee being told that there is potential child abuse is REQUIRED to tell his superiors. Paterno did exactly as the law required.

    Nine years later, with the main stream media cheering them on, the Board of Trustees fired Paterno.

    Our idiot governor then adds to it by grandstanding that Paterno “no longer inspired confidence in his leadership abilities”.

    Considering this idiot was in the Attorney General’s office during the Grand Jury investigation in which Paterno was a cooperating witness, it’s incredible that our worthless governor had to spout off in the most blatent politically correct nonsense this side of John McCain.

    Corbett will not get my vote in 2014. He is a grandstanding coward who used this event to get his name in the media.

    Next, can we address this inane question “What would people do if it was YOUR son?”

    The simple truth is ANYONE will do more for his own son than someone else’s.

    Don’t believe this? Let us look at a hypothetical. Let’s say there is an all boy’s school with 100 boys as students. There is a terrible accident in which one of the students dies.

    100 Moms and Dads have to wait until “next of kin” is located and informed.

    The 99 sets of parents whose sons are still alive are thankful that it wasn’t his/her son who died.

    This is human nature.

    As of now, there is a 23 page Grand jury summary and very little additional evidence.

    What is known about Paterno is he gave over half of what he made at PSU back to the community, and that some of his players (see Franco Harris) have lost jobs for supporting Paterno.

    61 years at PSU, and this is how he is treated at the end. Every NCAA invesitigation turned up nothing. Thousands of players love the tough old man.

    For this, he has been tried, convicted and found guilty in the MEDIA.

  • BA Cyclone

    The simple truth is ANYONE will do more for his own son than someone else

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    Shut down Penn State football. Period.

    Next, the alums will likely take care of everything else once the details come out. PS is already in a panic about their latest fund raising program.

    If Paterno knew and did nothing more than “report it” and didn’t follow up to make sure something positive was done – like the “charity” was shut down and the chief perp went to prison – I hope Paterno goes to prison and for long enough to die there. I’m perfectly willing to wait for the trial, but I’m pretty sure that you are living in la la land.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    If the allegations are proven, I’m fine with using the campus for fuel air explosive target practice and salting the soil before paving it over.

  • Craigpennsylvania

    The problem with people like you is you take what someone did not say and twist it to prove a point.

    This whole concept of what would “this person” have done if it was his own child is just pandering to emotions. It is nothing more than that.

    For you to stoop to suggesting that I don’t think children deserve to be protected is nothing more than a lie you concocted in your mind.

    Remember this the next time you try to tell me I cannot see something, ok?

    If you are not intelligent enough to understand that ANY parent is going to be more emotionally involved when it is his own child, then wallow in ignorance.

    The Grand Jury spent over two years investigating this case and elected to make Paterno a cooperating witness. He was cleared of ANY wrong doing.

    THAT is a fact.

    The rest of what happened to Paterno has been a trial by the media. We no longer need courts, juries, lawyers, etc … all we need is the AP, Yahoo and people like you. This is a great new standard: If the media says you are guilty, it does not matter what the law says, BA Cyclone and others will follow along like sheep.

    Welcome to the Brown Shirt Society formally known as the USA.

  • Craigpennsylvania

    While I am in La La Land, why don’t you explain how Paterno was supposed to shut down the charity?

    I have read the Grand Jury summary 5 times. Have you?

    You see, Becker, the Grand Jury does not work in the land of “Hang em High”. It works within the law. When a Grand Jury is looking at a case, the threshold for indictment is far lower than it will be for a conviction.

    If the Grand Jury has even moderate evidence against an individual, the individual is indicted with an idea that he/she is still innocent until proven innocent.

    In Paterno’s case, he was listed as a cooperating witness, and was cleared that he did everything he was supposed to do by law.

    But, in this so called bastion of conservatism, the law be damned. We read on Yahoo that Paterno is bad, so not only must he be jailed, let’s tell the 120 kids on the team that they don’t matter, we are shutting them down.

    Oh, and the other sports that the football team pays for? You guys are done, too.

    Let us add as many more victims as possible to the poor children who were (allegedly) raped.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    are a complete jackass.

    Paterno, if one makes the assumption that he knew or even had information that the current perp was molesting children in guise of “charity”, should have pressed the point with the police to conduct a full investigation.

    If this turns out to be the worst case scenario, or even close, yes, PS football should go the way of the Whigs. Never to heard from again. And the 120 kids that you are so whiny about, they can play football somewhere else.

    And, if I could, you bet I’d shut down the team and work to turn Penn State into an academic institution that educates young men and women and gives them an academic degree they can be proud of. The athletes – very few of whom are actual “students”, and even fewer will make a living playing sport – can go elsewhere or get an education that will benefit them and society.

    I’m perfectly willing to wait for the law to be satisfied. But again, if the story is true, Penn State should rightly be history, at least in it’s current form.

  • JSobieski

    Punishments for far less. The “its not a crime” standard is too low for university leadership. I will wait for the facts to comeout but under your logic, no school program should ever be punished unless all the players are guilty. This is inconsistent with existing NCAA policies on things like gifts to players

  • Craigpennsylvania

    Becker – once you lowered this to calling me a jackass, the conversation was over. You should try the Huffington Post. You and liberals share a passion for trusting the main stream media to try cases.

  • Craigpennsylvania

    Sobieski … at what point did I even discuss the NCAA? I didn’t. The NCAA has its own set of rules. They have yet to weigh in on this.

    My entire discussion has been how Paterno was tried and convicted in the media, and apparently, a lot of conservatives agree with this.

    The NCAA has specific rules about gifts to athletes. I personally think they are asinine, but they have those rules.

    I am not aware what the NCAA’s position is on a coach commiting a crime in 1998. Perhaps they have something in their rules about this, and perhaps not.

  • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

    a mark of a human being, let alone a conservative. So, with respect to calling you a jackass, I sincerely apologize. To jackasses. I’m sure we’ve had more pathetic defenders of the indefensible, but you even make Ron Paul fans look rational.

    You are truly shameful. Please feel free to go away insulted. Or not. Just go, you’re spreading filth here.

  • Craigpennsylvania

    I am dealing in rational thought and behaviour. I read the Grand Jury’s transcript carefully. If you think following the law is filth, and that this makes me shameful, I can live with it.

    I will not leave, nor do I accept your insincere apology.

    You stick with innuendo from the media, and I will stick with facts.

  • Tbone

    99.9999999% of the students, faculty, employees, suppliers, contractors and alumni have absolutely nothing to do with any of this and you advocate destroying the school?

    You are crazy as a loon or drunk. Take your pick.

    BTW, I would be interested why college football makes you feel just as inadequate as a person as Sarah Palin does? LOL.

    Sit back folks and enjoy, the fireworks show is on me.