Penn State: Was the abuse too horrible to acknowledge?

Here are two similar views of the Penn State child abuse debacle. One from the anonymous humble2humble blog (obviously by a man of faith who understands child abuse): http://humble2humble.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html. The second is by David Brooks, from yesterday's NYT's: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/opinion/brooks-lets-all-feel-superior.html

Both speak to the commonality of denial and avoidance. Both are great writing. What do you think?

Comments

[Sandy Mitchell]

Robin, thanks for alerting us to these writings. I've been listening to different radio hosts grapple with these issues on my local NPR affiliate this last week. Today there was an interview with a former pro hockey player who described the long-term damage done to him when a coach molested him repeatedly; he tells in painful detail his long road back to regaining a sense of personal power. You can hear it at: http://thestory.org/ - "WHY I DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING" (he's also written a book with that title)

[Deborah Woolley]

Yes and yes. This week I sat with a male client who was sexually abused as an infant by his father and later on by a "handyman" who worked for his family for years. As we chatted at the beginning of the session, The Penn State story came up, and together we observed that all the media attention has been on the athletic program, the administration's response, alumni reactions . . . "What about the victims?" he said. "Yes," I said. "We're not hearing from them, nothing's being said about their experience." Outrage was in the room -- not just about the abuse, but about the collective silence.
Maybe I've missed something, because I don't follow online publications nor do I watch TV. But he, a victim, felt once again that the experience of the victims is being ignored.

[Robin Shapiro]

Thanks for the comments. Sandy, I'll check out your link.