Pain Of The Paterno Statue

This is written for all child abuse victims that know far too well the pain of what they endured.  It is also written for those that choose to stay in the dark, when it comes to the issue of child abuse.  There is no greater pain, then the betrayal as a child, of people you look up to or trust.  The pain is greater than anything one can imagine and it isn't like it leaves you alone for the rest of your life.  The pain of child abuse becomes your constant companion throughout your life as you try to heal and move on from it.

Seeing people talk about the penalties that Penn State received in regards to their football program as if they were excessive, is somewhat shocking to me.  As I tweeted yesterday, they must not realize the pain of child abuse.  While I know Paterno did not abuse the children, he held a position where he could have put a stop to it.  However, the almighty sports program and money making donation machine was more important than the welfare, safety and respect of children.


I can understand if Paterno and Sandusky were heroes to you, that this is a difficult day.  However, don't confuse what they both did, with the pain that the victims experienced and now continue to deal with in life.  Have compassion and understanding for how this affects not only the victims of Penn State, but it resonates with all those that have endured these horrors.

We need to wake up in our world and put an end to child abuse.  When we hide behind our heroes, our leaders or our churches and close our eyes as if nothing happened, we are just as much a part of the problem.  If you stand by and do nothing, how is that helping the children?  Children have no way to speak up when they are that young and unless we empower them to do so or we take the time to listen and honor what they are telling us, we will doom the future of humanity.

I personally don't watch most sports, but I am glad that they took the Paterno Statue down.  It is a symbol of pain to many and that far outweighs any hero worship.  Paterno did nothing to stop the situation even when it was reported and he is an example of what happens in our society.  He is not the only one that does this and all one has to do is read the newspaper to see evidence of that.

Once again, if we value the children at birth, why do we as a society fail our children as they grow up?  Why do we act like some hero in our life is more important than our children?  We need to stop and look at our own individual lives and see what role we play into all of this.  It isn't just the Paterno statue that is to blame.  It is the unconsciousness of our society and civilization.  May we all wake up before it is too late.  These victims are just a tip of the iceberg in this ongoing problem.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blog Post And Images (c) 7/23/12 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------