The Scandal

The scandal at Penn State has made me sick. The fact that adults chose to hide the fact that a man was abusing a child makes my stomach hurt. They say that the accused allegedly abused at least 8 boys from 1994 until 2009. The sad part is that is just the boys that have the strength to come forward. How many more victims could possibly be out there? If one person had just spoken up then he could have been stopped. My heart breaks for those children.

I was molested when I was 11 years old. I had no idea what was happening and did not realize until years later the damage my mother's boyfriend had caused. I still recall the abuse as if it were yesterday. All I remember was feeling like I was doing something that did not seem right, but made the adult happy with me.

These children thought that they were with someone that cared about them and they trusted him and his intentions. They were probably trying to please this adult. I am sure they were looking for someone to care about them and treat them like they mattered and instead they were treated like they meant nothing and were used allegedly for this adults own perverted needs.

These scars never go away. This abuse will forever be in the minds of these children. There will be days when they find themselves wondering what they could have done differently. There will be days when they find themselves wishing they had told someone. There will be many days that they think they are the one that did something wrong. Hopefully with the help, support and guidance of a good counselor and the love of family and friends, they can move on and have a good life, but they will NEVER forget.

All of this sadness and pain comes from one man that could have been stopped several years ago. The really sad part is that now the teaching assistant, that years ago reported that he had seen an inappropriate act taking place in the showers at Penn State, is having his life threatened. This whole mess is just sad and people, grown people seem to be forgetting about the damage to the children. That is the scandal that somehow the coaches and the team seem to be more important and causing the most upset, not the lost innocence of the children this man took advantage of.

My stomach hurts today and I am sad, sad for those that have lost their innocence, sad for those that cannot see what is really more important and sad that many lives have been abruptly and horribly altered all by one man and his need to please himself.