There is a major debate in the sports world right now over Penn State's head football coach, Joe Paterno, being fired yesterday. Essentially, the board of directors met and decided that it was "in the best interest of the school" to fire Joe Pa, as well as the president of the school. This decision comes amidst allegations of former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky had sexually assaulted a boy, believed to be 10 years old, in the showers of Penn State's football complex, Paterno did nothing more than inform athletic director Tim Curley and university vice president Gary Schultz of the allegation. Paterno never personally called police.Now you have to keep in mind that he was his personal friend, and that through Joe's decision literally held his future in his hands. So, he kept quiet, and now the 84 year old's legacy will be tarnished. In a statement made Paterno said, "This is a tragedy, It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."
So, the question remains, is Joe a scapegoat taking the fall for the university, or did he truly deserve to be fired after 62 years?
Thursday, November 10, 2011
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You better believe Joe Paterno deserved to be fired. I cannot imagine being told that my friend, or anybody i worked with for that matter, had raped a young boy and not getting to the bottom of it. The concern needed to be for the young boy (and the other boys that Paterno knew Sandusky was working with) not for Sandusky or the reputation of the university or anything else.
ReplyDeleteOf course he deserves to be fired and all the others that knew about it. What is sick about this story is that the people are rioting over the fact that their coach got fired and not about the cover up about the rape of a ten year old child! What kind of mentality do these Penn State students have to think that the coach shouldn't be fired? Those protesters disgust me.
ReplyDeleteI work at a place called the Children's Justice Center that helps provide therapy to children that have been sexually abused. I know what it can do to kids and how it can hurt families and how people feel about their abusers. It is ridiculous that someone would ever cover up for someone that they knew participated in the act of childhood sexual abuse. It is ridiculous. He knew his friend had done something wrong..something incredibly wrong, and he kept it a secret. If you know something like that you are supposed to tell so that it doesn't happen to some other 10-year old kid, which is likely to happen if you abuse once. Who knows what other secrets Joe was keeping about his friends? Yes. He deserved to be fired.
ReplyDelete-McKenna Talley
The child that was molested had no means of standing up for himself. Joe had an opportunity to protect that child and future children from an abuser. He failed to act when he absolutely needed to. He should not just be fired, he should be prosecuted also.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the "Who Can Say What?" debate--whether or not Joe Paterno was responsible for any of the incidents, Penn State has an image to uphold. In order to retain that image and to appease the public, action must be taken.
ReplyDeleteHe definitely deserved to be fired. He did the right thing about reporting the assault but not to the extent of something being done about it. No matter if he is close friends with Sandusky-- it comes down to the physical and emotional safety of the child. If Joe wanted the right thing to be done he would have made sure that the conflict be resolved rather than lying low.
ReplyDelete-Amber Ah Sue
He most definitely deserved to be fired!! Anyone withholding that type of information to police is breaking the law. If Joe would've told officials about his close friend's assaults, they would've been able to prevent more physical as well as emotional traumatizing experiences for young children. Lying low is not exactly taking initiative, and so it shows his character flaw for sure for not being able to make a decision. So yes, he deserved to be fired.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the general consensus on this one. If someone in a position of authority at any institution (let alone a school) is willing to cover up something as serious as sexual assault on a 10 year-old boy, they should not be allowed to keep their job. The only reason this is controversial is because he's a beloved football coach. If anyone else did what he did, they would be fired without a second thought. Any person who covers up sexual assault doesn't deserve to keep their job, I don't care how many games they've won.
ReplyDelete~Sammi Taylor