1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453)
First it was simply, “Oh my God. That is horrifying.”
Then it became “Oh My God. All those boys.”
Then it became, “Oh my God – why didn’t he do something.”
Didn’t you feel all the whispers?
Did you not smell the fear?
The news and the names, and the timeline were fuzzy and unclear.
Then it became crystal clear.
Years. 14.
So. Many. Broken. Boys.
A crazy side bar – a missing DA, and a drowned laptop destroyed and car found. Parked and empty.
Dottie.
Really?
Then the Board of Trustees got clued in, went monkey crazy and fired a Pope.
Some, a small percentage, took to the streets and turned Beaver Canyon into chaos.
The cameras branded the students as calloused and capable of only worshipping football and tailgates. The students branded the swarms of cameras and microphones on campus and in their face 24/7 for days on end as calloused — capable only of worshipping ratings.
There was a Powerful Man with a (reportedly) abused childhood himself but somehow he could sit that still.
But you and I knew.
It was a Superhero with a dark horrible secret.
Power preying on those without.
Incubated and nurtured
By a culture of blind reverence.
And we’ve read that story somewhere before.
They tried to keep it quiet.
Instead, they brought down the house.
Jack Nicholson was right.
But now we must try to handle the truth.
Teach our children?
They already know when something is not right.
And sometimes, they even know what to do about it.
Teach us, the adults, and those with the power to stand up when we suspect.
Know the signs.
Listen.
Report.
Not sure?
Report.
1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453)
~ksoneill via Child Help
Good and decent men don’t do what Paterno did. Good and decent men protect kids, not rapists.
