There has been a conspiracy of silence surrounding the sex scandal that has rocked Penn State for the past three weeks.
Silence for almost 10 years, when the first alleged incident took place involving the assistant football coach at the time.
Silence continued when head coach Joe Paterno decided not to tell the authorities about the incident, but rather the athletic director, who told the vice-president of the university, who then told the president.
Not one of those adults thought about the children who were Jerry Sandusky’s victims, whom he knew from his charity for vulnerable children, The Second Mile. Instead, they decided to cover everything up.
The most noise that was heard was the rioting that followed the firing of 84-year-old Paterno, the coach with the most wins ever in college football.
Thousands of students gathered on campus, chanting and protesting – even going so far as flipping cars.
These men, in positions of authority at Penn State, decided to stay mum when they were warned that Sandusky was molesting young males on their campus. In their locker rooms.
But, one can guess that it was exactly that locker room mentality that pervades all of sports that dissuaded anyone from stepping forward.
In 2002, the Penn State Littany Lions football team went 9-4. That successful season would have been hindered if a scandal of this magnitude had created a media firestorm.
The fact that Penn State football brings in so much money for the school and is at the heart of the community is what led the coach and other school administrators to let down the victims and their families.
The school administrators knew about what Sandusky was doing with these children but didn’t come forward. All they did was institute a rule that he wasn’t allowed to bring children on campus.
These men have lost their jobs as a result and the man they called their friend is now heading to trial.
Everything they tried to protect is now ruined.
The children, who were as young as 11-years-old when they were victimized, were the ones who had to come forward, as one victim’s accusations spawned a three-year investigation.
However, this silence could have been broken years earlier by the adults who should have had that courage.
The vulnerable children should not have been left to do it themselves.
The “what happens in the locker room, stays in the locker room” mentality is part of an old boys’ club school of thought. If what’s happening in the locker room is harming someone, it shouldn’t stay there.
The sad part is, it happens far too often and at all levels.
Most recently, the Neepawa Natives Junior ‘A’ hockey team from Manitoba had to send out formal apologies, had several players leave the team and had their head coach resign after a hazing incident that was meant for team bonding.
Rookies were forced to walk around the locker room naked with water bottles tied to their scrotums, under the watchful eye of their teammates and even an assistant coach.
The only reason anyone found out about it was because one rookie told his friend.
And the friend told his father, who contacted team officials.
Another Canadian example is the hazing that happened at McGill University in 2005, which resulted in the cancellation of its football season.
A rookie player lodged a formal complaint, alleging that he was sodomized with a broomstick by his own teammates.
These activities are seen as part of a ritual that happens at the beginning of every season to welcome rookies to the team.
In reality, they are immoral, disgusting acts that need to be stopped.
Several media reports have made the Penn State story about Paterno, who was fired during his 46th season on the Littany Lions’ sidelines, but it’s about more than that.
It goes beyond sport, it goes beyond football and it certainly goes beyond the locker room.
It’s time to break the silence and to realize that the real victims in this situation need to be given a voice.
They broke their silence, so nothing like this should ever happen behind locker room doors again.