Speaking For The Children

     Every morning at 7 am I turn on the Today Show. I like to watch the news in the morning and see what is going on in the world. This week, aside from learning the answer to the burning question of "where in the world is Matt Lauer", I found myself very disturbed by what I saw and heard.  I recognize that most days in this country, and around the world, there is senseless violence and terrible things that happen. But this past week, it wasn't only about what happened, but also about the way the people around the "incident" have been reacting.
     Unless you live under a rock, I am sure you know what has been going on with Penn State University. It is a terrible story. It is sickening. It is disheartening to every parent out there. Just knowing that there are monsters in this world that would pretend to do good in order to do so much bad can scare you enough to keep your kids locked up in your house all day long. But what is so much more upsetting and that much more disturbing is knowing that there are people out there who would put their own personal career goals, and that of their institutions, ahead of innocent children. There is something so sick about the fact that more people are upset to see their coach "retire" than they are to know that the very same coach had the opportunity to protect these children and didn't. That not only, is the pedophile to blame but also countless other adults who could have helped these children but in the name of football allowed this to continue. To turn on the news and see students and adults rioting over the fact that the coach was fired and not over the fact that this horror was perpetrated is insane.
     I sat at a table this weekend where this topic was discussed and someone, who was in no way defending what happened, posed the following question: "Imagine if your greatest dream was to coach college football and you had the opportunity to learn under the best. Would you be so quick to inform about what you saw (to the police) if you knew that it would be the end of your career?" I can tell you unequivocally that if I had witnessed what he witnessed, not only would I have called the police but I would have jumped in that shower and ripped the guys eyes out. There is no excuse! There is no explanation for not protecting children. It is unacceptable that barely anyone has talked about the tragedy of what has happened to these children because they are so focussed on the careers of the people who allowed it to go on for all those years. I am sickened.
     As a mother,  I can tell you that this is one of my greatest fears. I worry every day that someone will view my child as weak and will prey on him (or them) in the way that predators do. After seeing what I have seen this entire week I am even more fearful. I am scared because now, it is not only the predators that I must fear and worry about but also the people surrounding them who are to cowardly to speak up for our children. I am truly disheartened by the world this week.