( CNN ) -- How does a survivor of sexual abuse respond to students rioting at Penn State ? `` You 're not getting it . You just do n't get it , '' said Dave Lorenz who was abused by a priest as a teen . `` It 's just stupid youthfulness . '' Earlier this week , legendary head football coach Joe Paterno was removed in the midst of a scandal involving sexual abuse allegations against a former defensive coordinator , Jerry Sandusky . What started as an apparent celebration of Paterno turned into a riot in the Pennsylvania town of State College . The crowd tipped over a news van and decried the media in anger Wednesday night . They held signs in support of `` JoePa '' -- a nickname for Paterno . Some said their frustration stemmed from the media 's focus on Paterno , rather than the charges against Sandusky . Watching footage of Penn State students rioting in the streets Wednesday night , Lorenzo shuddered , then hung his head . What bothered Lorenz is that students `` rallied around ( Paterno 's ) house , cheering him up . '' `` The kids up there just do n't understand what this does , '' he said . `` Stop thinking of the adult and start thinking of what happens to a child that goes through this . You love the adult , you may not know the kid . Start thinking of the kid and the horror they go through , because it 's hell . '' Paterno has been under scrutiny because of his response to allegations brought to him in 2002 by a graduate assistant . The assistant allegedly said he witnessed Sandusky , now 67 , having sex with a young boy in a shower at the campus football complex , according to a grand jury indictment . Paterno reported the allegations to his boss and Pennsylvania 's attorney general said it appeared Paterno had met his obligations under state law . But critics said the coach should have reported the suspected abuse to police . Sandusky is accused of sexual offenses , child endangerment and `` corruption of a minor '' involving eight boys . Many within the Penn State community condemned the crowd 's actions . In the campus newspaper The Daily Collegian , an editorial read : `` Wednesday night was an embarrassment for Penn State ... The way students reacted set our university two steps back . '' Penn State grapples with conflict over coach 's firing , horrific allegations . Earlier this week , as questions about the coach 's action mounted , students began swarming Paterno 's home . The gatherings had the tone of a pep rally . Kayla Garriott , a 22-year-old college student who was sexually abused as a child , said the open support for Paterno was disrespectful to survivors . `` That 's the first thing people look at -- that their football team is without their head coach that 's been there so many years . Nobody looks at the eight children . '' The rioters are `` never going to be in those children 's shoes . It 's not about football . It 's about eight children who are never going to get back their lives back . They 're going to live with this the rest of their lives . They might not get over that . '' This kind of spectacle could even make abused kids more reluctant to go to the police , she said . The Penn State scandal prompted numerous calls from sexual abuse survivors , said Barbara Dorris , the outreach director at Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests . `` I have talked to people all over the country who have dealt with their abuse , '' she said . `` This is bringing it all back . It 's so upsetting . They were crying . They were angry . '' The reaction of the crowd could send an unintended message to children and teenagers who 've been abused : They may feel blamed for what happened to the football team and the rioting , said Dorris , who was also abused as a child . It 's a `` horrible statement that a winning football team is more important than the safety of the children . It mirrors what happened in the ( Catholic ) church . '' SI.com : Penn State tragedy shows danger of making coaches false idols . Jerry Needel , a Penn State alum who graduated in 1999 , watched the news unfold and felt he had to do something . `` This just shook my beliefs and a big part of my identity to the core , '' he said . He started a campaign to shift the attention to supporting victims of child abuse , by raising money for RAINN , which stands for Rape , Abuse and Incest National Network . In addition , some Penn State students are planning to dress in blue for their next football game to support the victims of child abuse worldwide . Jennifer Marsh , the director of the National Sexual Assault Hotline said the news story is bringing awareness and facilitating a national discussion about abuse , a topic often cloaked in secrecy . `` The biggest takeaway we 've seen is just the outpouring of support to victims and survivors . '' National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-4673 .
Survivors of sexual abuse says they 're appalled with unrest at Penn State . Some students condemned the abuse by the crowd outside . Survivors say students are short - sighted and do n't understand abuse .