The healing process and the kids

that the Proud PSU for RAINN campaign has raised almost $530k since November.
www.rainn.org/proudpsuforrainn.com

I originally was thinking that the students should organize a “Blue Out” each year and do some type of donation drive for it…but after doing a little bit of research—April is Child Abuse Awareness Month—so maybe it would be a better idea to do this for the Blue/White game. The only issue with that is that April is still pretty close to THON.

As for the stupidity of people—I am making an effort to just ignore it—and remind myself of my new favorite JoePa quote: “Don’t get into a pissing contest with a skunk”!

Darkness to Light is a national non-profit organization committed to ending child sexual abuse. They have published a 7 step guide to protecting our children. http://www.d2l.org/site/c.4dICIJOkGcISE/b.6143703/k.15DC/7_Steps_to_Protecting_Our_Children.htm

If you do nothing else today, at least read it – it’s only 16 pages. This guide is not a substitute for the advice of professionals. It is only to give you simple, proactive steps to help protect children. A few key parts below:

· Step 5 is to make a plan. First, and perhaps most important in the plan, is how to react. Don’t overreact. Your response to a child trying to tell you about abuse has a powerful influence on their subsequent behavior. They might shut down, change their story, or feel even guiltier. They may even change the account based on your questions, which may give the appearance of having been "coached" and this will be harmful if the case goes to Court.

If you think that this won’t ever touch you or your local community in some way, then Awareness has not been raised enough.

7 step guide to protecting our children http://www.d2l.org/site/c.4dICIJOkGcISE/b.6143703/k.15DC/7_Steps_to_Protecting_Our_Children.htm

http://www.d2l.org/atf/cf/%7B64AF78C4-5EB8-45AA-BC28-F7EE2B581919%7D/7%20Steps%20to%20Protecting%20Our%20Children.pdf

Darkness to Light http://www.d2l.org/site/c.4dICIJOkGcISE/b.6035035/k.8258/Prevent_Child_Sexual_Abuse.htm

See 1in6 for more info on stats http://1in6.org/get-information/the-1-in-6-statistic/

RAINN http://www.rainn.org/

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PublicHomeServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US

A Behavioral Analysis http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/ResourceServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=469

For those in Pennsylvania, use Child Line and Abuse Registry as a resource. http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/provider/childwelfareservices/childlineandabuseregistry/index.htm Here’s a number you can call 1-800-932-0313.

I read an article in mid November. It compared Joe Paterno’s situation to the Greek tragedies. I though it was an insightful read. However, there was a shocker at the end of the article. The author stated that an analogy with ancient Greeks might not be the best one to make – it was common and accepted for powerful men to keep young boys.

Later, I got more interested in understanding the history of child abuse. I found this
http://www.psychohistory.com/htm/05_history.html

I agree that it doesn’t have to be just a football thing. I was just thinking football, since it’s the easiest thing to get organized at Penn State. (More unity for football than anything, other than maybe THON.)

I like the idea of a blue day on campus. In a lot of ways it’s more appropriate than a blue out at the Blue-White game. I certainly don’t think that it would have to be football related, but if it were football related it would be the most visible (therefore, maybe have the most impact, maybe not).

I see things a little differently than some of you. I don’t feel guilty for what happened. I had nothing to do with it. I feel guilty that I’ve gotten over this and know that the victims may never get over this. I just feel that we are in a position to help them, certainly not directly, but if we can show some solidarity for supporting victims of abuse like this it can only help them. We don’t need to repent. We did nothing wrong. Those that have done wrong will probably be punished in courts.

I don’t view it as a reminder of what happened. It’d be a way to raise awareness and money. Sure, it would bring back bad memories, but it wouldn’t be about what’s happened in the past. It’d be about showing support for the victims and trying to stop something like this from happening again.

And if something this awful can happen in State College, let alone in the football building at Penn State, then it can happen anywhere. In fact, it does, in towns large and small. That’s why I’m not too worked up about the media calling it the Penn State scandal. It’s not fair, but I chose to see it as an opportunity. Even if it’s not all of our faults, it reminds us that it’s all of our responsibility to fight. Like Lavar said “This is a call to action!”

Ironically, that’s what so many of the hysterical critics can’t accept. They want us to think that this was somehow the product of “big time college football run amok” and therefore doesn’t apply to people they know where they live.

That’s horseshit (big time college football is insane, but that’s another issue). This could have happened almost anywhere, famous or obscure. It’s the banality of evil and all of that.

Jerry Sandusky, if he is guilty, along with every other child molester or rapist are not “monsters” as the press would have you believe. They are human beings. I don’t say that to make them sympathetic. I say that because it’s a difficult reality we need to come to grips with. They are human beings that have some very important wires crossed in their heads (that’s the best analogy I’ve heard from psychiatrists). They are rare, but they don’t come from a particular class or race. They could be in any neighborhood in any job.

I hope some of the money raised goes to research on that – preventing it, spotting it early, and maybe curing it.

But while it is scary to think that Jerry Sandusky was “one of us,” -a Penn Stater and a beloved citizen of State College we should not forget that each of the victims weren’t “one of us” too. I don’t know where they came from, but based on the circumstances, its safe to assume they were young Penn State fans and liked State College. To me, that makes them as much “our kids” as the kids born and raised here. Not that I don’t care about all kids all-over the world, but I think that these kids were here should drive it home more for us, even if we don’t know their names.