Cleaning up

Recently in the news, Joe Paterno, the ageless coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions made his team responsible for their actions. A little while ago, fifteen members of the Penn State football team were involved in a fight off campus. It started with one member, Anthony Scrirroto, who was offended by others and called his friends for assistance, which ultimately led to a brawl outside a house. However, Paterno decided to make his mind up even before the judicial system sorted out the entire mess. He was quoted saying "I don’t condone the fight. I think the kids were wrong." As a direct result of the incident, Paterno decided to make his entire football team responsible for the cleanup of the Penn State stadium, containing 107,282 seats, after every game. This punishment is one of the harshest ever. After every game, the football team is required to clean the stadium and will even volunteer for various programs such as Habitat for Humanity, building homes and helping others who aren’t as fortunate. I think that such punishment is great. Athletes especially, are often under the impression that they can do no wrong, when in fact, they are no higher than the rest of the people of the nation. Such a punishment puts the students at fault, and embarrasses them on a national scale. Joe Paterno is unafraid to do what is necessary to teach kids life lessons. I believe that this is what college is ultimately about. Learning lessons that will apply to students throughout their entire life. Joe Paterno isn’t worried about future recruits or hurt feelings, he is worried about the students he has now and their mannerisms and behavior. If he doesn’t teach them now, only the law will, and that will be much worse. I am glad that decided to instate such a punishment to send a message out to the entire community: take responsibility for your actions.