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A Different Thought On the Penn State Scandal

A Different Thought About the 
Penn State Scandal

By Elton Camp

The deplorable scandal at Penn State 
Threatens to bring unreasonable hate
A graduate STUDENT some now condemn
With even death threats against him

Because he saw a child under attack
Many want to put him on the wrack
Because he failed then to intervene
To stop an act so blatantly obscene

It is easy to condemn him with spite
“Not to call the police wasn’t right.
He should’ve done a whole lot more
Like knock the old coach to the floor.”

Please try to see it through his eyes
Just imagine his horror and surprise
That he didn’t act isn’t quite so odd
Since the coach was almost like a god

Football worshipers share the blame
And might have even done the same
It would have been easy to walk away
And not single word ever come to say

If he had, none ever would have known
His reputation and job wouldn’t be gone
Give him some credit and take a look 
At the action this young student took

To the head coach he reported next day
Imagine how hard were the words to say
Because, really what could he ever do
If the coach declared his account untrue

The point is, don’t be so quick to condemn
What if it had been you instead of him?
With hindsight, his decisions he must rue
But about the past there’s naught he can do

(Note: I deleted and reposed this to eliminate an extremely foolish comment by a reader who obviously hadn’t read the poem carefully at all.  In a university setting, a graduate student has zero power.  I’m sure that the young man wishes he had done more, but he did report what he saw to the proper official when he COULD have merely walked away and said nothing.  There have been a number of death threats from the super righteous people who weren’t there at the time and now want to condemn him.)

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