SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN

[CWO3ROBBIE]

I have been waiting for someone to start a thread on this subject since it is dominating all the news.

No one has, so I will.

what do you think will be the result of this?

Do you think firing the head coach was the right thing to do?

What do you think the long term effects of the incident will be?

Do you think all the publicitity is a good thing or a bad thing?

In order to get the discussion started I will post some of my thoughts.

1. I think the publicity will have more negitive effects than positive effects. 

2. I do not think this is a result of college sports being money driven.

3. I think this is a result of our reluctance to dicuss this deviant behavior in any open forum.

4. I think that the result of this will be a reluctance of people to get involved with any type program that could possibly lead to acusations of child sexual abuse.

What are your thoughts on the subject?

[Karen Bear]

I have been in the child care field for over 20 years, as a teacher.  I actually began working with kids as a babysitter when I was 15 years old. I believe God has granted me the skills, patience and care to teach children.  Children look to us to guide and protect them and not to be used to meet our needs or pleasures.  Now, with what is going on at Penn State, it is such a betrayl to those innocent children.  People talk about how it's ruined Penn State, but what about the vicitms. The boys  trusted that coach, they needed help and he took advantage of them.  It's sickening and the man needs to own up to what he's done and do his time. I agree that people don't want to talk about this deviant behavior, but it cannot be ignored. I know it's harsh but, in my opinion, if the head coach had any knowledge of this behavior from Sandusky and chose to ignore it, he is liable too.  He overlooked the safety of those boys invovled.  I think the publicity is always over the top, but in this case, I could see how people being made more aware of this happening and the implications of those invovled also being reprimanded will hopefully make people get more involved and not just turn a blind eye to it.

[Merry]

I dropped out of college because of a professor that was trying to get me into the sack for a grade. My parents didn't believe me. This creep is teaching in Portugal now the last that I heard. God help them.

[Quinn]

This situation is so disturbing to me…

Whether you’re a fan or not, if you live in Pennsylvania, you know about Joe Paterno.
You know how he inspired thousands, you know he ranks third after Stamford and Vanderbilt for graduating football players, you know he gave millions back to the community, you know he rejected a higher salary so that the school could use that money elsewhere, you know he never had a NCAA violation in recruiting or coaching a championship football team.
And, now we know that he choose football over innocent children. That will be his legacy. And, it is just. He is being defended by many, many, many people in this state. They all say the same thing, “He did what he was supposed to do, he told the Athletic Director. He did everything he could.”
BULLSHIT!
He ruled that college, his word was golden, and people listened to him.
He had a moral obligation to go to the police. He was not some low level clerk, he was Joe Paterno! And, according to his fans, he IS Penn State. If so, all that BS they are spouting about him being afraid he would lose his job is complete BS! He should have been fired and he deserves all of the criticism he is receiving. Joe Paterno WAS a great man, now he lives in shame along with all the other individuals who turned a blind eye for over ten years.

Scott McQueary should also be fired! He witnesses a rape and walks away, calls his father and leaves the campus to talk this over with his father????? The next day he tells Paterno. What kind of human being would walk away from a child being raped????
I’ll tell you, the kind of human that has dreamed his entire life of coaching Penn State football. The kind of person whose father groomed him to coach Penn State football. The kind of person who saw a child being raped and who’s first thought was, O, fuck what’s going to happen to my coaching career if I report this?

Not only does Sandusky need to be investigated, the Board of Trustees needs to be investigated, the board of the Second Mile charity needs to be investigated, the Centre County police need to be investigated—the police department that wouldn’t press charges when a Mother reported to them in 1998 that Sandusky had molested her child. This police department DID NOT pursue an investigation even after they heard Sandusky ADMIT to the mother that he was wrong.

I am not a college football fan. I have friends that are Penn State alum. I have friends that are Penn State football fanatics. They are defined by their devotion to the game. So much so that I fear it has warped their perspective. It makes me sad.

What is happening at Penn State right now is the fox watching the hen house. It needs to stop. The “Old boys club”, the pervasive fanaticism of Penn State football, the cover ups to protect guilty people needs to stop. NOW. "

Many children and their families have been harmed, perhaps irreparably, because football took precedence. That’s a sad commentary on Penn State’s priorities, isn’t it? "

[Merry]

I hate to say better late than never, especially when the powers that be prefer never, but thanks to the thousands of hours of hard, emotionally painful work put in by people who had been molested as children and their lawyers , therapists, ect, this was not completely swept under the rug.

[Karen Bear]

I completely agree with you Quinn. I am not invovled in football either, but even if I was a fan, there is no defending these coaches and authorities who chose to ignore what was happening to these kids. How can pride of sports and an institution come before the rights and safety of a child? I read an article yesterday where Sandusky was quoted as saying that he did take a shower with the young boy was and it was just playful.  What the hell?  Not only in denial of what he did, but acting like it's ok for a grown man to shower with a young boy- like this is a common occurance.  Amazingly creepy to say the least.

I hope the families get some closure and Sandusky gets a full conviction for the damage he's done. I pray for healing and good therapy for those boys who were molested. I know some most be older now, but i hope they can still find help. I think you are right, Merry, i think there has been a lot of work put into this investigation and it's a good thing they are following through.

[Merry]

I think the scandals of pedafile priests and the hard work put into protecting children right now who need it as well as compensating the people who were molested was ground and heart breaking ,hard work. They cut the trail for others to come forward.

[Bob Stepp]

Robbie....as for your # 2 statement.........everything  in this world now is money driven.....especially sports. I hate to say that, really I do, but it's true. And following a close second is power.

[CWO3ROBBIE]

Bob, I think you misinterpreted what I said in #2.  i did not say that college sports were not money driven.

I said that I do not think this situation as it developed was caused by college sports being money driven.

I do however disagree with your blanket statement that everything in this world is now money driven. Does money somehow effect most actions in todays world? Yes! But that does not mean that all actions are taken in order to make money. In this particular case I do not think the actions taken were in any way driven by the desire for money. Probably had more to do with power than money.  Or reputation. I am in no way trying to defend any of the participants, but if you are going to identify someone in a position of power as being a sexual deviant, you better damn well have irevocable evidence.  Why has there not been a detailed discription of what McQueary says he saw? Is it because we are so squeamish when it comes to sexual acts that we would rather use our imagination than read a detailed discription?

Look at what the women who accused Cain of Sexual Harassment are going through. Unfortunately in our society the accusor in sexual matters often is damaged more than the accused.

[CWO3ROBBIE]

I fully agree that it is a horrible thing. It is something that I never experienced. I did observe quite a bit of and even participated in what might be called deviant behavior in groups of boys when growing up. Mostly in Boy Scout activities and just horsing asround in the neighborhood. Masterbation contests were not uncommon. I even remember observing some of the boys having sex with ech other. But this was all around the ages of 11-16. As far as I know none of them had sexual problems later in life. But who knows? I remember at least once that a Boy Scout leader encouraged the masterbation contest. But, as far as I know there was never any force involved. On the other hand(no pun intended) I have known a few(5) women who were abused by a parent, or relative. They all seemed to have been very emotionally damaged by the experience.

Christopher Hitchens, in his book "Hitch 22" writes some about his experiences in boarding school.

The whole sexual experience seems to be something that we still cannot talk openly about.

Who knows? Maybe this scandle will bring about more of a willingness to talk about these things. But I doubt it. During my lifetime I remember many sexual scandals, involving children and adults. Usually they get great publicity and then are quietly swept back under the rug.

During my military and business careers I attended many group counseling exercises about various workplace and societal behaviors. But none dealt with sexual deviant or pedophilia.

Where do you draw the line? What are the warning signals? Anytime some one is accused of this type behavior they are marked for life. Doen't matter that they are exonerated, they are marked for life.

 So, that makes it very hard to decide when to raise the flag. Once it is up it never goes away. Remember the case of the 16 year old boy having sex with a 15 year old girl? He went to prison. He is probably labeled a sex offender for the rest of his life. Where do you draw the line?

In the RV club that I belong to there is a tradition of hugging.        when working as a host, We are told to offer a hug to people coming in and going out.  Very few women decline the offer. Many men do. I don't really feel comfortable hugging people that I don't know, but I do.

Oh well, I've rambled on way to long. time to get ready and drive to Galveston.

 

[funesthememorious]

I don't follow football but this story was hard to avoid...hope I don't fumble the ball here.

 

The players should not be penalized, their season should continue and run its normal course. Paterno seems like an oldster who has lost some of his cognitive abilities, not that he should be given a free pass. The university should donate some of its football generated income to a few worthwhile charities that benefit children. I'd like to think if I saw a kid being abused in a shower there would be some sort of immediate action on my part...I wouldn't wait to talk to my superiors about it the next day.

[TeeBubbaDee]

OK, My first, and probably only post on this subject.

Abuse of ANYONE, child or not is horrible. I don't care if it is physical, mental, sexual, or whatever. Abuse of any kind is abhorrent. That said, I am going to weigh in on where I stand on Sandusky's charges. I totally agree that from every thing I have seen and heard, he is most likely a deviant, and deserves the harshest penalty allowed. But, he has not been convicted of a crime just yet. (Please believe me, I think the guy is guilty) BUT!!!!..; I have a uncle that was a grade school teacher that innocently put a band aid on an 8 year old girl with a scrapped knee, who ended up being accused of being a perv. He was totally exonerated by the justice system, but ended up losing his lob, his career, and is now a stone hard core alcoholic waiting to die. Again, I believe there are so many charges against Sandusky that there is practically no chance that he is innocent, but I'm reserving my judgement until he is found guilt in a court of law, and not in the press. 

[CWO3ROBBIE]

Tee, This is the same type of thing that I think about. I think Sandusky is more than likely guilty, But the condemnation of all the others peripheral to this case will more than likely Cause many innocent lives to be ruined. Once a person is accused of pedophilia or any other type of sex offence they are marked for life. Even if later proven innocent they will always be looked at with suspicion.