Tuesday, November 15, 2011
If you see something, say something
" if you see something, say something" and no I'm not talking about the MTA. In the midst of the Penn State sex abuse scandal, I started thinking about legendary coach Paterno. Paterno, a celebrity in his own right, is not the accused, however, he seems to be smack in the middle of the whole scandal. This got me to thinking about what we, as teachers, are teaching students about bullying. We teach young people to step in or speak up of they see some sort of wrongdoing going on. The Penn State scandal is a perfect example as to why teaching that lesson to young people is vital. Paterno may not have abused those boys, or even witnessed the abuse taking place, but he was made aware of what was going on and said nothing. Does that make him as guilty as the actual abuser? Perhaps not, but to be aware of that caliber of abuse and not intervene does make him guilty to an extent. For students, it's the same thing. If they see a fellow peer being bullied and just standby and watch it happen, and than that student commits suicide that night, the stander by will feel a certain level of guilt. The Penn State scandal is a good lesson for society in general: we are all held accountable for the wrongdoings we see or are made aware if, and if we don't do anything about it, well then the blood is on our hands too.
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I am honestly disgusted with the amount of students and people in general that are standing up for Joe Paterno. People are so concerned with the Penn State football image that they are willing to silence the voices of the young men that were being harmed. How are we advancing in so many other aspects of humanity, but when it comes to empathy we seem to be moving backward, not forward? I agree with Danielle that teaching young people to step in when they see injustice is extremely important. As an authority figure at a prestigious college, you would think Paterno would share the same views. It saddens me to see a grown man who has such a good reputation otherwise give a half assed attempt to say something about what he saw happen to those boys. What message are we sending to future generations? “Hey, bad stuff happens, and it’s okay to speak up… unless it’s your friend or colleague that’s doing something wrong. Then that’s bad… very, very bad. Look the other way kids; you’ll be better off that way.”
ReplyDeleteAs future educators, we must practice what we preach.
Good job Danielle!