but McQueary did try and do something. He told people in charge. People who should have done something. I realize McQueary should HAVE DONE MORE. He was only a grad assistant, accusing a highly respected person in Centre County of raping children. When you tell the authorities and they do NOTHING, what kind of statement does that make. That nothing will happen. Had Schultz done the appropriate thing back in 2001 then McQueary would have been a hero and not lost all his coaching job potential.
I am not saying I condone McQueary walking away, however you have no idea what you would do in the situation. Hopefully this experience will remind people to stop and ask questions. Just watch that TV show What Would You Do, and how MANY people do nothing.
Rail away
You won't be slammed by me.
Having not ever been in this situation myself, I can sit here and say with certainty that I would have run in there, beat the **** out of Sandusky, and called 9.1.1. Or something else "better" than what McQueary did. (Oh wait...that's if I wasn't dizzy and vomiting or hyperventilating or having a heart attack or stroke.) But I wasn't there, and I can't imagine the horror and the flood of thoughts that would run through my head. He didn't stop it
when he should have, but he didn't just walk away completely...he did tell. At that point, there was a line of command to follow (and from what I understand, that has now been changed), and he did his part. Certainly, he should have and could have done more. The ball was dropped by tons of people over the years with more power than McQueary.
There was a recent "What Would You Do" type of segment on The Today Show, I think. There was a man with a child in a bakery, and a "Missing" sign with a picture of that child and a phone number to call. I don't think anyone called it, or did anything else, even though at least one woman was obviously very aware that that little girl looked like the picture. Again, I feel SURE, sitting here in my living room, that I would be better than ALL those other people who didn't do anything. Or would I?
A few years ago, there was a series of bomb threats over several weeks in the HS (took two hours out of each day, plus police and fire departments time/expense). They found out who did it and the student was expelled. My DD told me that he had posted on FB that he was extremely sorry and extremely depressed...that he had screwed up his whole life. AND...that he was going to sneak into the school the following Monday to say good-bye to people. I called the police and spoke to the detective in charge of the case, and was shocked that I got brushed off. I felt like I was being viewed as some neurotic over-reactor. The detective said "Well, he can't get into the school without getting buzzed in." Because no one ever held the door for someone behind them? Because a fellow student would NEVER stick something in another door to hold it open so he could get in? Had he gone there and shot up the school, how many people would have said I should have gone over that detective's head. I put my trust in the person who knows a lot more than me, but I felt very uneasy. Turns out...nothing happened. So how would I react next time?
Back after 9/11, there were all sorts of statements from DISers questioning the lack of action taken by the passengers of the first planes...if the last plane's passengers could take down a plane so it didn't reach Washington, why didn't the passengers on the first planes just jump the hijackers. We'd have such a different outcome. Obviously, the last plane's passengers knew what was going on, but still, that wasn't enough of an explanation for some DISers...THEY would have just jumped those first hijackers.
Hopefully, so many things will change now that this was such a big case and had this outcome. Hopefully, with all the thinking about it and talking it about, people will be more likely to react immediately and in the best interest of the victim. I wouldn't in a million years have had this scenario even enter my thoughts had it not been for this case. But it has now.
Just like changes are made when there are other tragedies, there will be many changes made now. When there have been overwhelming fatal fires, there are changes made in laws, and in people's own minds. When the Titanic sunk, there were changes made regarding lifeboats. At this point, I hope every state is looking at their child abuse and reporting laws, trial procedures (PA now allows expert testimony about "grooming" victims I think now?), hiring procedures...everything, with the goal that this sort of thing won't ever happen again.
