I find it interesting how the status of a person can elevate them above consequences in the minds of their supporters. The news of Joe Paterno losing his job sparked riots in State College. To his supporters involved in the riots, Paterno is not culpable for anything in regards to the scandal that has flooded media outlets this past week. I don’t know if they feel that he fulfilled his duty in the matter, or that his actions (or lack there of) are not that big of a deal, but it seems that they are more worried about who’s going to coach Penn State football than the lives that have been affected by what has happened.
I do believe in forgiveness, mercy, and grace. I also believe in submission to authority. There is a time and place to stand up to authority, but this is not one of them. I’ve worked with students to some degree for fifteen years. If I had ever known about the abuse of any of those students, or even thought that abuse might be happening, my first step would be to inform my leaders. I would also be responsible for notifying Child Line (an 800 number for reporting suspected child abuse in Pennsylvania). Reporting abuse of any kind to Child Line is mandated for anyone who works with children in the state of Pennsylvania. According to The Child Line website, when a call is placed to Child Line the caller is guided through the next steps to take:
Each call is answered by a trained intake specialist who will interview the caller to determine the most appropriate course of action. Actions include forwarding a report to a county agency for investigation as child abuse or general protective services, forwarding a report directly to law enforcement officials or refer the caller to local social services (such as counseling, financial aid and legal services).
Allowing wrongdoing to continue is sometimes just as bad as doing it yourself. To simply tell your boss about child abuse and not follow through to ensure proper action is taken is to neglect moral and possibly legal responsibilities. To see so many people wanting to pardon Paterno for the sake of a game sickens me. Where is our culture headed?