The media has placed a lot of attention to the Pen State scandal. One of the reasons why it does is because of the relationship Sandusky has. He has a relationship with Patorno, who is the head football coach at Pen State. Patorno is an iconic symbol of success within the college football world. When Mcquiry saw Sandusky in the locker room with the young boy, he did what he believed to be the correct thing. Although somewhere in between,, someone overlooked Sandusky’s actions because of his foundation to help the children who are less privileged. The amount of power he has is tiny compared to Patorno, if Patorno would’ve attempted to stop these actions Sandusky was performing, there is a higher likelihood that someone of power would’ve paid more attention and possibly stopped them several years ago. These men of authority who have power, behaved deviantly and focused their attention on football instead. Through the functionalist framework would Sandusky’s actions be justified, if you can call them that. Sandusky ignored the fact that he was hurting young boys psychologically and emotionally. Instead he focused on the idea that he was helping these boys out, by having his foundation to help those children who didn’t have the economic sources to play football. His targets were young boys, who were on the lower end of the economic spectrum and were in broken families. Sandusky believed that he could help these boys by providing them gifts, and the opportunity to play football. Through football they would learn skills that could be applied to life. I believe that this whole scandal is a tragedy. It is sad, to see what other Americans have made football as their priority and ignore the lives of young boys who are now scarred for life. If someone would’ve committed for the safety of these boys when speculation first arose many years ago, then the number of victims would’ve decreased. Unfortunately, the parents of these children believed that this camp was something good for their kids, no one expects their kids to be harmed in a safe environment like Pen State’s campus.

Maritza L.

Kin 332 i