An Okotoks area resident who shocked the Canadian sports world when he revealed he was a victim of sexual abuse feels something positive can come out of a scandal at a major university in the United States.
In 1997 Sheldon Kennedy admitted he was victim of sexual abuse by his Junior hockey coach Graham James in the 1980s. The news sent shock waves across Canada, but led to changes on how coaches and volunteers are screened and other measures were instituted to curb sexual abuse.
He said what has occurred at Penn State university may spark similar changes in the United States.
“Yes it’s an ugly situation but what a platform for them to make change,” Kennedy said. “It is no different to what happened with Hockey Canada and my story in 1997.”
Jerry Sandusky, 67, a former football coach at Penn State University, was charged last week for sexually abusing boys at his football camps during an eight-year period.
“When Graham was charged there were still disbelievers, people in shock and they supported Graham,” Kennedy said. “Hockey Canada has now taken a leadership role. Now Penn State can really make a difference for youth football across America.”
The scandal at Penn State led to the firing of Penn State Nittany Lion head football coach Joe Paterno last week. Paterno, 84 has the most wins in United States college football and is a beloved figure in the state.
He was fired for his limited action when he was informed in 2002 of Sandusky allegedly abusing an estimated 10-year-old boy. There were riots at Penn State last week when Paterno was fired.
“There are 40,000 students at Penn State and you have 2,000 of them on the streets and probably half of them didn’t know what was going on,” Kennedy said. “Most of the time sex abuse perpetrators are people in power. With a bystander like Joe Paterno it caught a lot of people by be surprise. I didn’t get too wound up by the riot.”
Although Paterno did report the incident to Penn State authorities, Kennedy doesn’t believe that is enough. Kennedy played for the Detroit Red Wings in the heart of Big Ten football country. He knows the clout Paterno had at the university.
“Paterno didn’t do anything and the institution didn’t do anything,” he said. “He is by far the most powerful guy at Penn State and he probably has a lot of clout in the whole NCAA. When a complaint goes up the ranks at Penn State, they would all be looking at Joe Paterno on what to do.”
Kennedy received several phone calls from American networks, including CNN, for interviews concerning the Penn State scandal.
“The interesting thing was the questions I took from the American media were the same I took 14 years ago,” he said. “The questions I received in Canada (about Penn State) was 14 years ahead of the questions I was being asked from down there. Up here, the questions were about solutions, down there it was about ‘I can’t believe this has happened.’”
He admitted the past week has been difficult, as he has had to relive the James abuse due to the countless interviews.
However, he said he has managed to move on.
“I don’t consider myself as being a victim anymore,” he said. “I think we have good solutions and that’s what I like to talk about.”
Foothills School Division has seen the benefits of Kennedy going public and the potential solutions he has helped develop.
The division announced in 2011 all adults in the school system — bus drivers, teachers, coaches and others — must take the on-line Respect in School program.
“It helps adults identify a bullying situation, a harassment problem or abuse,” said Stacey Meyer, Foothills assistant superintendent of schools. “It also provides them with the tools on how to handle such a situation.”
He agreed with Kennedy Canadian schools and other institutions — such as organized sports — are ahead of their counterparts in the United States.
“From my experience, I think we are more than a decade ahead of them,” he said. “I think that is directly due to Sheldon going public.”
