Annette John-Hall: Annette John-Hall: As sad and sick as the Penn State story is, it's about all of us

Like a piece of rotting yarn, the loyal good-old-boy network continues to unravel in State College.

On Monday, Jack Raykovitz, president of Second Mile, resigned from the charity founded by former Penn State assistant coach and alleged child rapist Jerry Sandusky, and from which Sandusky reportedly plucked his victims. The at-risk kids had no idea how at risk they really were.

Raykovitz's departure brings to six the number of men who have lost their jobs or have been placed on perennial administrative leave because of their apparent complicity - one of whom is reportedly still collecting a $27,000 a month paycheck.

Given the no-snitching culture that hangs like a black cloud over Happy Valley, something tells me we're only scratching the murky surface.

By leaving, Raykovitz said he hoped to restore the community's faith in the organization.

Where have we heard that before? Why, from Joe Paterno himself. When the octogenarian coach announced his on-his-own-terms retirement date - just before he was booted out - he talked about the organization, too.

"I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to help this university," JoePa promised.

He could have said to help the children, you know, the ones who matter the most but get ignored over and over again.

But he didn't.

I had a long talk the other day with a friend.

And I have to say, I hung up feeling even more depressed.

No, not just because of the inconceivable way that Sandusky allegedly preyed on powerless, innocent victims as his good old boys seemingly covered for him.

As a mother, I've already cried over that.

But because, as sad and sick as the story is, it's as much about us as it is about them.

My friend put it this way. Humans are more flawed than you could ever imagine.

He confessed he wasn't sure how he would have reacted if he stumbled upon someone he knew sodomizing a boy in the shower, as Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary reportedly did in 2002.

"Man, I don't know what I'd do in any circumstance. I can say I'm great and I'd do the right thing, but I can't really say what I'd do. ...

"Most people are brave in their fantasies, but not necessarily so in real life."

As much as it stung to hear it, he's right. Whether it's because of indifference, misplaced loyalty or fear, it's more convenient for folks to ignore what they see rather than complicate their lives by doing the right thing - even at the expense of a child.

Heck, how often have we ignored atrocities in our own families? It's as if we don't want to know.

Just look at some of the heinous stories that have involved the abuse of children over the last few years.

There was the case of little Danieal Kelly, the undersized 14-year-old with cerebral palsy who starved to death because of neglect. The Jackson brothers, starved to within an inch of their lives by their adoptive parents. Eight-year-old Charlenni Ferreira, who died after repeated abuse, the gash on her head stuffed with gauze and covered by a hair weave. The "cash-for-kids" scandal in Luzerne County, in which two judges took millions in kickbacks from the operators of private juvenile facilities for sending them a steady of supply of children, one of whom killed himself. And what more do we need to say about pedophile priests?

In all of those cases, the kids could have been saved if only an adult would have stepped in and done the right thing.

And if you have the stomach for it, watch the YouTube video that recently set off national soul-searching in China. A 2-year-old girl being run over - while person after person walked past the suffering child and did nothing. She later died.

The takeaway is simple.

"We have a responsibility to each other," says Frank Cervone, executive director of the Support Center for Child Advocates. "It's not some lofty religious notion. It's the heart of what makes us human."

What would you do?