Riots amidst PSU scandal, fighting wrong battle

       Jerry Sandusky is an evil man. Most people know this, and there is little controversy surrounding that opinion. For those who have not been following the Penn State scandal, in short, former assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky was arrested on November 5th and charged with 40 counts of sexual abuse of young boys over a fifteen-year period from 1994 to 2009. Sandusky retired in 2000, but continued to frequent PSU's athletic facilities and games. 

Sandusky's victims were part of The Second Mile, a charity program for young boys who come from troubled families. Sandusky founded the program. He allegedly showered these boys with gifts, took them to college and professional football games, worked out with them, and hosted sleepovers at his house. The sexual abuse--anything from touching to rape-- took place in PSU athletic facilities' showers, Sandusky's basement, and even motel rooms. 

On Wednesday night, Joe Paterno, PSU's longstanding head football coach since 1966, was fired for not taking responsibility and seeing that Sandusky was disciplined. In 2002, a graduate assistant had reported walking in on Sandusky raping a 10 year old boy in the PSU showers. He told Paterno, who then told the athletic director. The athletic director then revoked Sandusky's privilege of using PSU's showers. The police were never contacted. He continued to sexually abuse as many as 20 boys. 

PSU students bringing down a lamp post amidst the riots. 

In the football world, Paterno is revered as one of the greatest coaches of all time. His termination lead to riots among Penn State students in front an administrative building. They brought down light posts, flipped over a TV van, and lit off firecrackers. They chanted "Hell no, JoePa won’t go!” and “We are Penn State!” 

In a New York Times article, one student said about the riots, “I’m here because I just need to be with the rest of my school right now. This is devastating for us.”

Okay, I get that students didn't want Paterno fired and how much he means to the school. But his firing is "devastating" to you? Imagine what those victims are going through right now. Imagine, for a second, that you are one of Sandusky's victims. 

In the wake of coming forward, letting the world know the pain that Sandusky put and still puts each one of his victims through, PSU students riot Paterno's firing. They riot the administration for firing their leader. How about they riot the administration for not stopping Jerry Sandusky from sexually abusing young boys? How about they riot for the cause of bringing sexual abuse out of the dark? How about they riot for the victims? Those causes are better reasons to riot than Paterno's firing. It isn't just about sports anymore. To give them some credit, they did hold a vigil for the victims the following night, but it might be a little too late. Clearly, most of the focus of the scandal is on Paterno and PSU, not on the victims.