Laws, consequences, and the good ole boy football system

[Pamela Ann Cameron]

US Dept. of Education to Investigate Penn State Scandal

Updated: Wednesday, 09 Nov 2011, 7:16 PM EST
Published : Wednesday, 09 Nov 2011, 7:16 PM EST

(NewsCore) - The US Department of Education announced Wednesday it would launch an investigation to determine whether Penn State officials violated a federal law requiring universities to disclose criminal offenses that occur on campus.

The investigation comes amid a child sex abuse scandal involving former football coach Jerry Sandusky, who has been charged with 21 felony counts for allegedly abusing eight victims over a period of 15 years.

Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz have been charged with perjury and failure to report suspected child abuse.

"If these allegations of sexual abuse are true then this is a horrible tragedy for those young boys," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a release. "If it turns out that some people at the school knew of the abuse and did nothing or covered it up, that makes it even worse. Schools and school officials have a legal and moral responsibility to protect children and young people from violence and abuse."

Read more: http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpps/sports/us-dept-of-education-to-inve...

 

I would like to focus on one sentence from the above article.  “Schools and school officials have a legal and moral responsibility to protect children and young people from violence and abuse” (US Dept. of Education).  Certainly this is a true and valid statement.  One of the first things that new teachers receive training about is the federal requirement that if we hear anything about abuse of a student, we are duty bound to report it to Child Protective Services.  We are not required to report rumors, but we are required to report a student coming to us with concerns or telling us of what has happened to them.  As a Christian, this seems obvious because we are admonished in scripture to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.  My heart breaks for those young boys whose voices are finally being heard.  Sadder still is the fact that grown men may have known about this abuse without reporting it.  While it is not a teacher or a coach’s job to find out the truth, it is their job to report the possibility so that the government agencies can then do their due diligence.  If a student or child were lying about an alleged attack (for a number of reasons), the authorities would find that out eventually.  Consequently, I feel like Tim Curly and Gary Schulz, if found guilty of perjury and failure to report, need to be punished for protecting the good ole’ boy football system rather than innocent boys.  This is perhaps a good example of why we are a nation of laws, and that those who break them should be punished. May the Lord heal those who were broken because of the abuse.