Calling out indifference

[sonia]

When I first read about the Penn State rape scandal, my gut response was, "Of course the witnesses didn't take action." Not because I think that's right, but because no one seemed to notice when I was being abused, and as a society we collude to allow terrible things to happen to children every day.

It was with surprise and a sense of, "Oh that's right, this is a more appropriate response," that I read Scalzi's post about it, "Omelas State University."
At Pennsylvania State University, a grown man found a blameless child being put through hell. Other grown men learned of it. Each of them had to make their choice, and decide, fundamentally, whether the continuation of their utopia — or at very least the illusion of their utopia — was worth the pain and suffering of that one child. Through their actions, and their inactions, we know the choice they made.

[TW for mild descriptions of abuse]
ETA: The Onion has a trenchant take on mainstream media's focus too. Sports Media Asks Molestation Victims What This Means For Joe Paterno's Legacy. (Parody)

ETA2: A timeline of events

Comments

[laughingrat]

I, too, am unsurprised by the whole thing. My co-workers were wondering how anyone could just ignore that. "Relentless conformity," I said. "The pressure to adhere to the hierarchy. Those kids weren't really important; that man's social position was. It happens every day." And it does. It just plain happens every day. :(

[sonia]

Those kids weren't really important
Yeah, that is the message.

Pausing to let that one sink in.

Also I wonder if the non-reporters were abusers as well. Nothing like that chummy club of criminals protecting each other. :-(