People Like Joe Paterno

The Gantt Report

Most people are up in arms about the revelation that a possible child molestation took place in the Penn State University athletic facilities and they should be.

Head football coach Joe Paterno, the man who hired the alleged abuser to be an assistant coach, was told about an incident involving a 10-year-old kid years ago. Paterno mentioned he had heard about the incident and reported what he heard to one of his supervisors, and then pretty much went about his own business. He didn’t care about the child. He didn’t care about the law.

To me, Joe Paterno is a silent accomplice!

But guess what? So are you!

If you had knowledge of broken laws, murder, rape, hazing. misconduct, malpractice, racial discrimination, child abuse, embezzlement, false testimony, bullying or some other heinous act and you failed to report it or refused to try and stop it, you too are a silent accomplice!

You say you don’t want to be a snitch. Well, reporting to the proper authorities about child abuse is not snitching. Snitching occurs when criminals tell on each other, not when law abiding citizens report on wrong doing.

How many times have you seen your friend, neighbor or family member falsely accused, fired, mistreated or victimized but you closed your eyes and said nothing and did nothing about it?

No, don’t point fingers at Joe Paterno. Point your finger at yourself because perhaps you are just as guilty as the Penn State coach!

Hopefully, the situation in Pennsylvania will help us open our eyes and enable us all to do the right thing.

What kind or man or woman can you be if you’re afraid or reluctant to tell what you see?

If your doctor is performing malpractice on you and other patients, speak up. If your lawyer has stolen some of your trust fund money, speak up. If your contractor and his laborers are stealing your construction supplies and equipment, speak up. If your dope dealer is selling drugs to the neighborhood children, say something about it.

A silent accomplice is just as bad as a perpetrator because silence will allow a bad person to continue to do bad things.

No, you don’t have to be a blabbermouth and report it when your friends cheat on their spouses, but you should open your mouth if you can prevent crimes from continuing to be committed.

We can learn a lot from what Joe Paterno did or did not do. We can learn to speak up and do whatever we can to save any defenseless child that is being abused by any adult.

Never be a silent accomplice!