Distance Learning - PSU Scandal

Prior to this scandal, I believe media has desensitized the general population to the seriousness of certain crimes. It's unbelievable to me that anyone can look past the fact that this is a child sex abuse case, and still be worried about football. When reading one of the statements made by Joe Paterno on pennlive.com, he briefly (emphasizing briefly) stated his "feeling sorry for" the victims and quickly moved on to state his loyalty to his players, the students, and the university for the rest of his life. His last words were for the Penn State students to not let this scandal effect how they view themselves or how they carry themselves. All I could think is "Who cares how the Penn State students feel?! This isn't about feeling sorry for them! This is a child sex abuse scandal!" I feel a great number of people are failing to see the magnitude of this situation and are more worried about how their football program is going to carry on.

According to what we have been learning, athletes and coaches can develop their identity through sport, finding the meaning of the life and their goals to be intertwined with being an athlete. While I do not condone the cover-up of these crimes at all and do not under any circumstance think it was okay for those involved to brush off these allegations, it is likely their reason was for fear of ruining their own personal image and identity. Though Joe Paterno is not the one who committed the major crime here, he committed a major crime of his own in not reporting it. (As did the others involved). Though at first Paterno was not the bad guy, maybe he knew he would be the bad guy no matter what when it came out; "guilty by association". I feel had he reported these allegations to the police, he could have severed his "association" and gone on coaching and being a positive influence to those around him. Instead, he proved to be morally bankrupt and care more about himself and football than to do the right thing.

Those who are in power unfortunately have more power (just because) and are able to cover-up their tracks, allowing crimes like this to slip through the cracks for so long. It is often stated that power changes people. People who were once nice and trustworthy become money hungry monsters, narcissistic, and immoral. (Not all obviously, but the ones we most often hear about). Had Joe Paterno not been in such a position of power and so iconified, maybe it would not have been so threatening to his career and his self image for him to be able to report these crimes. I would like to believe all people are innately good, but when situations like these arise, it makes you wonder.

The social media has blown up this scandal. I'm not sure yet if it is blowing it up in a good or bad way. If these men are made examples of and cover-ups by men in power and crimes like this can be stopped, then this attention will benefit our society. But if the media makes this case a circus, like it does many others, this could turn out to be another example of how many Americans, and people in general, have lost sight of what is truly important in life. Deviance like this, crimes like this, and immorality like this should not be allowed to happen, let alone go unreported when something could have been done to stop it.

-Katie C.

KIN 332I

006329399