<p>^^ Yes. And the reason children weren’t protected at Penn State was because of the football culture.</p>
<p>Seems Penn State was not alone in acting on the impulse to cover up child molestation so as not to harm the institution’s reputation. Apparently this has been standard operating procedure in the Boy Scouts of America for years. The LA Times got hold of 20 years’ worth of internal Boy Scouts files on some 500 pedophiles who had been quietly separated from the organization. In about 80% of the cases, the pedophile was not reported to local authorities, in some cases even when such reporting was legally mandatory. Some victims were counseled not to tell anyone, even the child’s own parents. Why? They didn’t want to damage the Boy Scouts’ pristine reputation, and in some cases they were quite explicit in saying they didn’t want to damage the reputation of the pedophile. Not a thought, apparently, for the subsequent victims of these predators, for whom they were covering and thereby enabling. </p>
<p>Revolting. And this from an organization that puts itself forth as a molder of moral character. Bunch of fakes and hypocrites, if you ask me.</p>
<p>[Boy</a> Scouts helped child molesters cover their tracks, files show - latimes.com](<a href=“http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-boy-scouts-files-20120916,0,6937684.story]Boy”>Boy Scouts helped alleged molesters cover tracks, files show)</p>
<p>^^^^^Puts their recent act of kicking out a scout troop leader because she is a lesbian in an even more disgusting light…</p>
<p>[Jerry</a> Sandusky and the Mind of a Pedophile : The New Yorker](<a href=“In Plain View | The New Yorker”>In Plain View | The New Yorker)</p>
<p>This is a really long piece, but I thought it was well done. It speaks to the Boy Scouts, the Catholic church, the Sandusky case. It speaks to the central question: “How does this HAPPEN” and why does it KEEP happening? What is wrong with us that we can be trained, told, and warned, and yet children are repeateadly victimized in a predictable pattern. I don’t care about Paterno’s legacy, I don’t care about Sandusky as long as he stays in jail (sentencing is Oct. 9); I don’t care about the NCAA. I do care about those questions.</p>
<p><<yes. and="" the="" reason="" children="" weren’t="" protected="" at="" penn="" state="" was="" because="" of="" football="" culture.="">></yes.></p>
<p>That’s where I disagree. Yes, I’m sure it played a part with what happened. But the football culture alone didn’t cause it.</p>
<p>As I posted many many posts ago, what happened at Penn St is not an isolated problem. Lack of reporting happens everywhere, everyday. Just usually on a smaller scale. It happens in a home, at a preschool or in your community. It doesn’t make the news, there aren’t famous people involved, there’s no “football culture” or money involved. But it still happens. Sometimes it happens because of denial (“that can’t possibly be true, he/she must be lying” or I must have misheard or misread what I saw), sometimes it’s out of fear (“how can I pay my bills if he’s gone” or the person threatened harm if it’s reported), sometimes it’s for fear of losing customers, neighbors finding out, fear of media, etc. Lots of times it happens because somebody just simply fails to report, assuming someone else will or not knowing how/where to report. My point is, this is a huge problem - this isn’t simply a one-time occurence at Penn State.</p>
<p>Penn State, the Boy Scouts, the Catholics Church are all large entities that make the media - but all these other cases don’t. Most of these incidents weren’t caused by a football culture. Blaming what happened at Penn State just on football is wrong and taking the easy way out. There is a multitude of dynamics involved, and in order to fix the nationwide problem, you need to take the time to examine what truly happened. My opinion (and I realize you and many others don’t agree) is the this whole tragedy is about much more than just football. Blaming it on football is taking the easy way out.</p>
<p>I agree, ljrfrm. What is most troubling to me is the history we see of institutions that put their own “spotless” reputations and image of respectability above honest, simple morality. The easy decision seems to be to cover it all up, and to hell with the victims. </p>
<p>Penn State’s football culture–and indeed all big college sports programs–are susceptible to getting too fond of their image. It means money and prestige. Add to this the inherent problems of giving one man too much power, and you are setting the stage for trouble. With Paterno holding such a revered position in that community, would the BOT ever hire a U President who was not willing to follow JoePa’s lead? I doubt it. There was no real oversight since the checks and balances had long ago been eroded. The day JoePa refused to be fired should have been the wake-up call, but too many people wished to bury the truth.</p>
<p>[Jerry</a> Sandusky and the Mind of a Pedophile : The New Yorker](<a href=“http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2012/09/24/120924crat_atlarge_gladwell]Jerry”>In Plain View | The New Yorker)</p>
<p>excellent discussion of how Sandusky got away with it for so long</p>
<p>^^ Thanks for posting the link. It helps explain why everyone but Chambers dismissed the 1998 incident, which seems so glaringly abusive now.</p>
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<p>The article is helpful in explaining that charm is an essential part of the pedophile’s m.o., the way to avoid detection and deflect suspicion when it does arise. Pedophiles are not the “monsters” of their stereotype, but actually “helpful”, “likeable” men. Ugh.</p>
<p>And they make suspicious people doubt their instincts and then turn the situation around so that the accuser/questioner feels bad that they even brought the subject up.</p>
<p>
Yes, I agree too. And when you add in the fact that nothing untoward happened to the people who knew but failed act. In the case of William Jacobs in Minneapolis, The Penn graduate econ professor (don’t remember his name), and PSU’s Sandusky – powerful people knew what these twisted men were doing, but failed to report their crimes and in some cases actively covered up the molestations. With the exception of McQ and Curley’s 2nd in command (PSU’s assist AD) no one has lost his job/pension or suffered any real negative effects. The unprincipled Spaniers, Curleys and Schultzs of the world will continue to either turn a blind eye or quietly cover up for pedophiles until they are made to pay for their failure to protect children.</p>
<p>
Or, the far more likely reality is that the Boy Scouts and the Catholic Church both have secret football teams secretly coached by Joe Paterno for the purpose of enabling and covering up Sandusky’s crimes. They were just disguised as other teams, I think Villanova for the church and Pitt for the Boy Scouts but I could be wrong.</p>
<p>cosmicfish - thanks for the morning chuckle!!!</p>
<p><<the far="" more="" likely="" reality="" is="" that="" the="" boy="" scouts="" and="" catholic="" church="" both="" have="" secret="" football="" teams="" secretly="" coached="" by="" joe="" paterno="" for="" purpose="" of="" enabling="" covering="" up="" sandusky’s="" crimes.="">></the></p>
<p>Someone finally figures this all out :)</p>
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<p>Yes. I agree with this There is a larger problem and the issue of the football worship at PSU is, I believe, in some ways distracting us from what the real problem is. The problem of ANY entity, ego, belief system becoming more important than the most basic principals of human decency and responsibility needs to be looked at on a larger scale than the events at PSU.</p>
<p>myturnnow thanks for the link, very interesting reading.</p>
<p>The tragedy of what happened at PSU has nothing to do with so called “football culture”. You all need to read the real facts of this case - and not the mainstream media slanderous version. It’s all there and the truth will eventually come out.</p>
<p>The possibility that guilty people tried to push blame onto Paterno doesn’t necessarily mean that he wasn’t responsible, too.</p>
<p>I just got this email. Thought it was amusing. As far as I know, I am not a continual supporter of Traditions of America. Never heard of 'em. I recently asked for an info packet for a housing development in PA; that’s probably how I got on this list.</p>
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<p>^^^^interesting!! According to their website: * For 20 years, Traditions of America has been the leading developer of new retirement communities in Pennsylvania and the MidAtlantic.*
I would think a company that has primarily made money from the elderly would be sponsoring a benefit for something like the local heart association or Alzheimers research or some similar organization certainly NOT for PSU football boosters.</p>
<p>[What</a> Scout abuse scandal teaches us - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/20/opinion/boyle-boy-scouts-abuse-scandal/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7]What”>http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/20/opinion/boyle-boy-scouts-abuse-scandal/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7)</p>
<p>Make sure you read the whole way to the bottom. This comparison of schools, corrections, religious groups, sports, etc. and their reactions to abuse allegations doesn’t make you feel very good at all, until you get to the end. Because of media attention and public outcry, the tide is turning, and the victims are winning.</p>