COMMENTARY | As a result of a decade-old child abuse incident, Penn State fired Joe Paterno as the college’s football coach. Paterno has served as the coach of the Nittany Lions since 1966. Throughout the exposure of this scandal, critics and supporters have debated over whether Paterno should have reported the incident to authorities after reporting it to Penn State’s administration.
About five years ago, I found myself in a similar situation as Paterno and understand the difficulty of his situation to a degree.
I lived away from my family in another state. Most of my friends were those I met through my now ex-husband. Two of his friends were a married couple with a baby. Both were employed and maintained a small house. I knew they smoked pot, but that it was something they tended to do when the child was asleep and seemed generally responsible.
While I didn’t agree with their decision to smoke pot around their child, I did not observe them directly endangering their child and I made no report to authorities. Once I learned that their dealer occasionally stopped by their home, I felt unsafe visiting them and realized that it was also unsafe for the child. I made a report and heard that someone else did as well, but nothing happened.
Months later, I directly observed cocaine use in front of the child. In this case, the child was in care of his grandmother, and she used cocaine in front of him. Though he was likely too young to understand what that meant, I knew that he would eventually understand and possibly adopt habits. More immediately, the grandmother was under the influence of drugs and the child should not have been in her care.
Once I saw the family use hard drugs, I stopped associating with them and did not get in a car if any of them were driving. I only saw them in public.
I ended up moving two states away once I got a divorce; it was then that I decided to make a second report. Because I am not friends with these people any longer, I do not know the result of my report, but I hope authorities followed up and assisted the child.
In my experience, it was difficult to determine when to report the behavior. Occasional pot smoking is different from inviting a dealer over, doing cocaine in front of a child or witnessing someone sodomizing a child. Hearing about the incident indirectly at first (as both happened to Paterno and myself) is also different than witnessing it.
I also understand the social pressure Paterno faced. His entire daily interaction revolved around Penn State and its football team. Likewise, my day often involved my social circle which included the drug-using parents in question.
Once I moved away, it was easier for me to look at the situation objectively. While I had already reported the parents, I did so again and used clearer language in my letter.
While Paterno did the right thing by reporting the incident to the administration at Penn State, he should have also reported it to authorities immediately, especially considering the severity of the situation. Considering his reputation and campus community was in question, he should have worked immediately with the police.
While it isn’t always easy to disturb one’s professional and social circle by making a report, it’s a responsibility. By failing to report this incident, Paterno failed to continue his legacy as a good leader. I understand the difficulty, but any adult-especially one in his position-should have seen the immediate urgency with which the crime should have been reported.