The Safety of Our Children Must Come First

TheRealMattDaddy.com

I don't think that I will have a difficult time convincing any of the readers of this article that crimes against children, like those committed by former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky and those recently brought to light with the release of the Boy Scouts of America's "Perversion Files," make me sick to my stomach. The things that these men did to children are unspeakable, but what is just as sickening, to me, is that they were covered up by a few individuals seeking to preserve the reputations of a renowned institution and a great American pastime.

Photo Source: Associated Press

In the case of Penn State, there was one predator that used his position and influence to target young boys in his Second Mile community football camps. He would show special interest in the boys he liked, groom them to be taken advantage of, and commit heinous acts in various locations that the boys should have been safe. When allegations were brought forward, several members of the ruling regime at Penn State, including beloved coach Joe Paterno, decided that it was more important to cover up the accusations than to report them to the local authorities. Sandusky was convicted on 45 of 48 counts, and the administrators who covered for him have trials pending.

Photo Source: The Oregonian

The Boy Scouts of America has an even bigger problem - 1,247 bigger problems to be exact. That's how many sexual offenders they sheltered over the last 50 years. The national office of the Boy Scouts would occasionally receive notifications of suspected child sexual abuse from their local chapters. The “perversion files” collected by the national office were recently released to the public as part of information acquired in a current case against the Boy Scouts. I read the list of names of the alleged offenders, and two of them are from my home town. I decided to read those two case files, and now I wish I hadn't.

It was enraged when I read how the national office was cautiously trying to determine if the families affected would be pursuing charges against the suspected offenders. You could tell that they were scared to death that their beloved institution of Scouting would come under fire in the national media most likely costing them participation and funding. Families were encouraged not to press charges to protect the good name of the Boy Scouts. The Scouts never reported these offenses to local authorities. Sometimes, they did not notice that an offender was volunteering for them again in another state!

When did ANY institution (you too Catholic Church!) become more sacred than the health and well-being of our children? Since when does public opinion trump child safety? When did we stop caring about values and become willing to sacrifice our children on the altar of money and greed? If Penn State had turned Jerry Sandusky over to authorities (and prevented future abuse!), would the cost in public opinion be anywhere near the $100 million this scandal could cost them today? Probably not. If the Boy Scouts had developed a procedure for handling cases like this where they worked with local authorities to catch predators and developed procedural standards to protect children from being easy targets, would they be facing dozens of lawsuits and possibly the end of their entire institution? Probably not.

I believe it is always better to err on the side of truth, and that no institution is so sacred that it should ever consider covering up abuse against children.

CLICK HERE to go back to the VOTING page and vote for The Real Matt Daddy.

Judges Comments:

It's hard to argue against your position. Impossible, in fact. And that's a good thing. You make a sound argument, not only in disgust of pedophiles but against the institutions that protect them. But if you read your first sentence, your argument basically is they "make me sick to my stomach." Forceful, but obvious. And I feel not as passionate as it could have been. That whole first paragraph I felt needed to be broken up into shorter sentences. Pound your fist on the table with where you're coming right from the start. Then mention Sandusky and Boy Scouts. You have two sentences (one of them a major run-on) in five lines. You could have made it into 5 or 6 sentences. Write in quick, short thoughts. I do think the examples you gave were great and you made it personal with the bit about the guys being from your hometown. Overall, it left me feeling flat and I wanted to be more outraged.

-From Daddy Knows Less

You just made me angry. I honestly didn't know the problems that existed in the Boy Scouts of America. I knew their stance against gays, but this is completely outrageous. I had a great time when I was in Scouts but there is no way that I would put my kids in an organization like that. And that sucks! You can tell how mad you are over this, as well you should be. When you can elicit that kind of anger from your audience, I would say that you did a great job.

-From Daddy's In Charge?

Absolutely outrageous, no question. And how close to home, even more enraging. But I have to second DKL: I felt it, but not as much as I should have. Maybe it's because I'm already there, so it wasn't like I needed to be convinced. A nice piece about a difficult topic, and I think cleaning up some mechanical issues would help this triple go out of the park.

-From The Klonopin Chronicles (Guest Judge)

OK. I'm not going to lie. This one was really hard for me to read objectively, so please bear with me.

You're the lucky contestant who picked this particular topic *and* has a Penn State alum as one of your judges this week. Yes, that's right - I am Penn State, Class of 1994.

As an alum, I will tell you that the quickest way to get close to 1,000,000 people angry at you is to say "If Penn State had turned Jerry Sandusky over to authorities...." Let me explain before you get angry with me.

"Penn State" is: 90,000 current students. 600,000+ living alumni. Thousands of faculty and staff. And me. By saying that "Penn State" should have done something, you are saying that each and every person associated with Penn State should have done something, including me. We are not the guilty parties. There are a handful of people who know what was happening and chose to remain silent - THEY are guilty, not the university.

Be very careful when using blanket statements like that - because I admit that as soon as I saw that, I shut down and I didn't want to read any more of your post.

Now, with that being said....I did read it. Several times. And I have managed to pull my own emotions out of the way and I can say that it was a very good post overall. Now that I have a son in Scouts, I have something else to think about (gee, thanks) and I'm glad that you brought it to light so that I can look into it some more. There were some mechanical issues that the others mentioned that I think could be tweaked and turn this into an excellent post.

-From Non-Stop Mom

Yet another reason for me to hate the Boy Scouts.
You handled this topic well. I can tell that you have very strong convictions because you're a parent. I totally relate. I have three sons, and the idea of someone prioritizing the reputation of an institution over their safety is abhorrent and it makes me sick, too.
There were some structural issues with your sentences, especially in that first paragraph. I got what you were trying to say, but it was honestly a bit difficult to follow.
Overall, a great post, filled with passion and conviction.

-From Pinwheels and Poppies

It's hard to believe that there are people that abuse children. And it's even harder to believe that there are people who choose to cover it up so I'm glad you chose to talk about this. However, I have to admit I had a hard time reading the first part of this post. I agree with Daddy Know Less about the run-on sentences. Short statements will make your point clearer to your audience. I like how you ended the post. Overall I think it was a good piece.

-From Bay Area Mommy

Ugh- this topic sickens me...that we even have this problem. Nice attack, solid facts and I walk away knowing where you stand. I defend your use of Penn State being copable. Outside of the 100K that are alumni- most people would know when we say Penn State- in context we mean the administration. That said- I had no idea about the Boy Scouts and I like that you put the Catholic church on the hook. You'll get an ass beting for it- but I give you big props for sticking it out there and staying true to your opinion. Well donw.

-From Honey Badger Press