Regardless of what did or did not happen in Happy Valley, the fact that students, alumni, fans, and bystanders are reacting (loudly, and sometimes violently) to this extent shows me that football (especially at a D1 university) can really spark the interest of often uninvolved (apathetic?) populations. Let’s be honest, if they had happened at any other college (say the D3-middle-of-nowhere college that I attended), this abuse would not be getting the attention that it is.
I also hate to play the pessimist, but from an outsider’s view, I am disappointed to see that students rioted at the firing of Joe Pa, but not because young boys were abused. My whole life Joe Paterno has been a legendary coach. No one can or would dispute that fact, and to see him leave the field without the recognition of all that he has done for Penn State is really sad, but his success in athletics should not cloud our judgement about what the real issue is. Child abuse is not OK for anyone let alone someone (Sandusky) who has been a role model for so many. The fact that Joe was even the slightest bit involved is also unacceptable for such a venerated man.
I don’t know enough about this situation to point fingers, but obviously a ball was dropped (bad analogy) at the expense of young children. It seems that at some point someone in the PSU administration (whether that was Joe or some other official) let football get in the way of doing the right thing.
The WashPo article highlights a new policy in Prince Georges County in Maryland that requires student athletes to maintain only a 2.0 grade point average, which means that they can fail a class or two and still remain eligible to participate in their sport. The tweet through which I found this article was titled “Should high school athletes be required to pass their classes?” Its sickening that there is even a question that any high school student should be allowed to fail classes and still be allowed to participate in any activity.
PG school officials say that this will allow more students to be involved in athletics, and actually gain from those activities. I can absolutely see the benefits to being involved in sports (as there are benefits to being involved in any activity with peers), and getting kids involved in activities in and out of school has proven to keep kids out of trouble. Sports and activities give kids productive things to do, teaches discipline, responsibility, teamwork, and leadership.
From the Washington Post article, officials said, “We’ll be able to give some opportunities to some students who are struggling academically and give them a chance to get more mentorship, develop their leadership skills and feel a part of the school.”
I think this is admirable and obviously their intentions are in the right place, but if they truly believe that being involved in the sports program will improve students’ skills and situation, then would there be a reason to lower the GPA requirement? Why is there not more effort placed into improving students’ academic performance to ensure that they can participate? Why not work to improve performance rather than lowering the bar?
My memory may be fading (in my old age), but I’m 80% sure that at my high school our athletes had to at least pass all of their classes. I don’t think there were any GPA requirements, just no Fs in the grade books. So, in theory, athletes could get Ds across the board and still play, but at least they weren’t failing. There were no such
In college, I have no idea if there were rules, but as a D3-middle-of-nowhere college, sports were clearly not a #1 priority for the administration. We didn’t make money from sports like PSU and other universities do, and students rarely actually attended sports events. (We weren’t even good for a D3 team, so we had a pretty low morale surrounding things like that.)
My point here is that society as a whole may need to take a look at how we treat athletes in our educational institutions. Remember, in college and high school, the purpose for all those kids walking the halls every day is in fact that they learn something so that they can be productive citizens. I’m not saying that being involved in athletics makes someone a less productive citizen. There are absolutely benefits to playing sports, when complemented with a full, valuable education.