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Barry Switzer better watch himself--he should do some in-house investigation of evil-doers before he starts to point the finger at PSU--enough bad practices went on under his watch I guess he feels he "knows" what happened at PSU???
He may be right in that there was gossip about Sandusky's retirement or behavior with Second Mile--but unless he has something first-hand to contribute he should refrain from painting condemnation with such a broad brush...
I taught in high school in TX--started in the early 70s--stopped when I had my first of two children to raise them--and then went back to work when they were older and eventually back into teaching...
from personal experience I know that there can be very bad things happening in an educational arena and a few people might know--but there can be lots of people who have no clue what is going on...
Sometimes that is cultural conditioning--you just don't understand what you are seeing...
I grew up in very small town in central TX in the 50s, 60s--went to small church college in nearby town--rarely spent any time in big city or with people of color or even people outside my social strata...
My first job was teaching at a "ghetto" school--no other word describes it--in AA neighborhood in Houston--very poor area with few Hispanic and Anglo kids as students...totally new experience for me but remember this was just after the Civil Rights era--I "wanted to make a difference"...
I saw young males whom I assumed were students carrying around big 8x11 binders--I thought they were the "good students" since most of my classes lacked paper, pencils, and had poor skills...
One of the older/experienced (black) teachers brought me up to speed when she told me those boys were pimps and those binders had photos of their stables...Most of them were not even students--they were just checking on their girls and giving them instructions
they would be outside before school or between classes and "johns" would come by, pick out a girl, and the pimp would set up a meeting at lunch or after school at the motel just down the street...
very entrepreneurial huh?--Why was the school allowing behavior like that? Why was there no intervention or police reports? Because the principal was corrupt in that he was too old, lazy to fight the tide of that behavior and most of the teachers were just tired--
society was not going to give those kids a chance--the Houston ISD certainly wasn't--
eventually because of the advent of white teachers into black schools (HISDs desegregation plan) who just could not tolerate that behavior and other bad practices, changes did happen...we got security guards on campus to control people just walking on
but those guys just moved outside the school grounds...and the prostitution/abuse still continued...
at that time reporting child abuse was handled totally differently...
Two of the girls in my "college prep" 10th grade English class became pregnant--one of them I knew was in relationship with another boy in her grade and supposedly they intended to marry after they got out of school...there were MANY girls in my school who were mothers or who became pregnant--a sign of their poverty/social situations and lack of education about birth control...
The other girl who became pregnant was someone who did not really have a boyfriend--very cute/sweet girl who was not really that smart but was friend of the girls in my AP English class--I was stupid and young and wanted to "be helpful"--I pressed her for information about the father of the baby--I wanted her to know I did not judge her negatively for being pregnant--One of the teachers whose daughter happened to be good friend of that girl told me the truth--
the father of her baby was her step-father....her baby was a child of rape...
I was shocked, sick for her and totally embarassed at how I embarassed her with my attentions when all the class probably knew what was going on behind the scene...(again circles of knowledge)
I wanted to call the police right then and have that guy put away--but the teacher said that was not going to happen...the girl would have been in "worse shape" if police were brought in but apparently some within the AA community were taking a hand in the situation...
the girl left school--moved to stay with relatives before she had her baby--don't know what happened after that...
Another situation involved one of the teachers at that same high school. White, female, divorced she was working in her room when she was assaulted on campus. I came to find out later --years later actually-- the basketball coach was the one who did it. Did he ever go to jail--HELL NO--he was winning state finals for that school...
He had done the same thing to girl students and probably other teachers (at least attempted) during the years that he coached there--but he was a protected individual...
So within a "culture" of education or business or religion or the military or any organized group,
there can be many circles of knowledge...and many types of criminal behavior...and coverups...
this situation with PSU has only become wide-spread public knowledge in past week or so...and we know only shards of information--
The grand jury process has been ongoing for longer time but from what I understand it only started because one of the victims who is now a young adult was brave enough to come forward (again) and go to the police and report what Sandusky did to him...
and that was taken seriously--and investigated as a valid report--
it is possible that the same report could have been ignored or glossed over in differnt location or time and we would still be in the dark as a nation about what was a reality...
I think we will see over a longer investigation that Sandusky probably has 100s of victims because of his access to such a large pool of young boys which were his target group...whether they were all as severe and long-term as the victims in the grand jury depo remains to be seen--but no man starts this type of behavior in his 50s--Sandusky started Second Mile in late 70s--the organization is 40 yrs old--
Legally the statute of limitations on his earliest rapes/molestations has probably expired except in rare circumstances...so MOST of his victims can't join the legal suit against him--
but the civil suits are something else...and again because of his long-term employment at PSU there may be info that comes out showing other times when people there had clues that Sandusky was a predator...and for whatever reason never called him to account for his actions...
The real waste in this situation would be if after it is all over and Sandusky is in prison and the civil lawsuits have been tried and won and the victims are trying to put their lives together--
that people will just forget
that it will be just as easy for a child predator to assault children
that victims will be ignored when they try to reach out to people for help
that people will ignore that small voice in their heads that says "something about this is not right"
that society won't spend the money and effort it will take to look at sexual child abuse for what it is-- a chronic, endemic cancer within our culture and do something to protect children.
I think the punishments are too lax --although I also think there are probably innocent people who have been accused and even convicted of crimes that did not happen--
I think sexual predators should be permanently incarcerated or even given the death penalty--
if you want to protect children you don't have many options
And people need to acknowledge that is too much money to be made in child pornography and prostitution for it to stop without some serious national efforts and some laws to be changed--some laws that might amend people's personal freedoms legally
there are too many important people who are involved--and this story may show us the tip of that iceberg--for this overhaul to happen easily or cheaply...
I just don't think that society is ready to pay that price--most people would prefer to ignore the reality of the sitaution and what is needed to make changes and make sound bites...
and in a way that is what this post is--a sound bite...
even as a teacher I don't feel I have the expertise to really get involved on personal level with child abuse victims--that takes people with clinical knowledge/experience
So we make donations to some charities but here again--choosing the right charity can be a challenge...
Barry Switzer better watch himself--he should do some in-house investigation of evil-doers before he starts to point the finger at PSU--enough bad practices went on under his watch I guess he feels he "knows" what happened at PSU???
Barry Switzer did get fired from OU for numerous NCAA vilolations, plus various criminal activities of his players.
But he was not dealing with sex crimes against children--unless I missed some of his violations...
people don't go to Federal prison for what happened on Barry's watch--
sexual predators are normally very, very careful about revealing their activities--
which is why Sandusky being caught TWICE with kids in the PSU showers shows he treated that campus like his basement--totally him, totally private...he "owned" that space...
Federal trial/penalty is not out of consideration for Sandusky and some of the bozos "leading" PSU--but for different reasons...
Sandusky transported minors across state lines and committed sexual child abuse with them according to two of the witnesses to the Grand Jury--one he took to the Fiesta Bowl the last year he was on Paterno's staff--(and the TX authorities are starting to investigate that trip)
and the admin staff very likely violated Federal law that requires ALL educational institutions that have sex crime committed on campus to investigate and pass those findings to the Fed--
that apparently did not happen with either the 98 or the 2002 incidents
whether you consider what they did an investigation or not--there was nothing reported to the Fed--
that proves PSU probably had guilty knowledge of Sandusky's actions and knew if they forwarded that info to Federal agency someone would pay more attention than they did to the allegations...
especially an eye witness to an act of rape in progress
NO--I meant that the crimes that Switzer was accused of fostering in his programs were not as severe nor as disgusting as what Sandusky is accused of committing or PSU officials of covering up...
most people don't get incensed over illegal recruiting practices like they do child rape...
lot of people brag about how they managed to get a top prospect to come to their school by slipping him some cash--and other coaches certainly know what practices work better than others if you want to entice players to come to your school....
but that is not what happened at Penn State--apparently Paterno took pride in running a "clean" program that could recruit w/o breaking the rules of the NCAA...
he was just not as scrupulous about guarding the lives of young boys Sandusky was "recruiting"...
and true irony is that Sandusky WAS recruiting high school players for Penn State's program as late as this year--from what one high school player has reported...
NO--I meant that the crimes that Switzer was accused of fostering in his programs were not as severe nor as disgusting as what Sandusky is accused of committing or PSU officials of covering up...
most people don't get incensed over illegal recruiting practices like they do child rape...
lot of people brag about how they managed to get a top prospect to come to their school by slipping him some cash--and other coaches certainly know what practices work better than others if you want to entice players to come to your school....
but that is not what happened at Penn State--apparently Paterno took pride in running a "clean" program that could recruit w/o breaking the rules of the NCAA...
he was just not as scrupulous about guarding the lives of young boys Sandusky was "recruiting"...
and true irony is that Sandusky WAS recruiting high school players for Penn State's program as late as this year--from what one high school player has reported...
You know, I could have sworn you said this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by loves2read
Barry Switzer better watch himself--he should do some in-house investigation of evil-doers before he starts to point the finger at PSU--enough bad practices went on under his watch I guess he feels he "knows" what happened at PSU???
You know I wrote it--you copy/posted it twice---
Barry Switzer was never the whistleblower for his own program's faults--
he said what he did because his bad practices were common knowledge (I guess) in his own programs...
but his programs were NOT covering up a child sex predator
THAT type of crime is not usually a matter of common knowledge since it is a much more serious crime than an NCAA violation...
If Barry Switzer thought the knowledge was so wide-spread did HE know about it then???
After all Sandusky was a notably respected defensive coordinator--
retiring at 55 and never getting any offers from pro teams or other college teams after leaving PSU is very unusual since coaches can retire and be courted by any team who thinks they have somethng to offer...
I just think that Switzer is appalled at what happened and he thinks all the coaches knew--but that is casting a very wide net indeed...
certainly McQueary's dad knew--do you think Paterno told his wife? or McQueary told his?
Switzer is saying the culture of a collegiate football program is such that many people knew what was going on.
“Having been in this profession a long time and knowing how close coaching staffs are, I knew that this was a secret that was kept secret. Everyone on that had to have known, the ones that had been around a long time,” Switzer said in an interview with The Oklahoman newspaper.
Former Oklahoma University and Dallas Cowboys coach Barry Switzer says members of the Penn State coaching staff had to be aware of former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky’s alleged behavior. (AP Photo)Switzer added that others outside the Penn State program had to have known as well.
“You think that a 13-year assistant ... hasn’t told someone else? His wife? His father? People knew. The community knew,” Switzer said.
Switzer is more qualified to comment on this issue than any of us posting here on CD, unless there are some former DI head football coaches posting anonymously.
Here is a link to a story running in my local Pocono Record today: http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111113/NEWS/111130345/-1/NEWS16 It talks about our local college sex scandal at ESU. These were not underage kids like in the PSU scandal - the accusers were between 18 and 25 years old at the time. The alleged perpetrator (Isaac W. Sanders) was fired - but is currently in a similar position in a college in Texas.
My hopes would be that the fallout from the PSU scandal will shed more light on problems that occur on other college campuses, camps and charitable institutions, and even corporate boardrooms. Possibly it could even lead to new laws and codes of conduct?
It is just my personal opinion, but with the national attention this has brought, I would assume that any investigations going forward will be thorough and above board. I don't think things like this will be swept under the rug for a long time to come. I would guess there could be more stringent laws in the future, but remember there were laws on the books now that just weren't observed. Creating more laws just gives a false sense of security, IMO, but I would guess this incident will serve to raise the level of consciousness in athletic programs in the future. And the eventual outcome will serve as a guideline for those in the future as to how to react if similar circumstances should rear their ugly head in the future.
I watched the game yesterday and felt that it wasn't as much about the outcome of the game as it was about these two teams coming together under difficult circumstances. I thought the joint prayer was awesome and I watched as players from opposing teams helped each other up after plays. Both teams fought hard but I felt a strange camaraderie of sorts and actually felt like they all stood together in a show of solidarity. Maybe I read too much in to it but I found it inspiring.
I feel sincerely sorry for those of Penn State that had nothing to do with this but now feel the burden of the scandal. There will be those like Switzer that try to use this to cover for their own checkered past, but there are also people that realize where the responsibility for this lies. This isn't about the entire university, it's about a small segment that put their own interests above all.
I hope that the media can sit back and let the professionals handle the investigation and let those that aren't involved start healing. I wanted to share the interview that Polini gave after the game. The story with it is unimportant and just talks about the game, but I thought the interview was good. Not everyone will use this to rise above the fray, and most people will be big enough to wish the people of Penn State well. Hold your head high and know the university will survive this. I think that many people across the country will learn a lot from this, and that is a good thing that will come from this tragedy.
Huskers Hold Off Penn State 17-14 (http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Nebraska_at_Penn_State_133741343.html - broken link)
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