Child Abuse In Jeannette's The Glass Castle

In the year 2015, approximately 683,000 children became victims of child abuse. Of those 683,000 children, approximately 1,670 children died from child abuse (National Statistics). Child abuse is defined as “when a parent or caregiver, whether through action or failing to act, causes injury, death, emotional harm or risk of serious harm to a child” (What is Child Abuse). There are many different kinds of child abuse: neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation and emotional abuse. The purpose of this paper is to enlighten the readers to the fact that throughout the story the parents and caregivers abused their children. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette talks about the many memories that she had with her parents, but it is clear that even

She was in the kitchen cooking hotdogs when she was three years old, and no one was paying attention to her. The fire burned her so severe that she acquired a large scar on her torso. After being in the hospital for several days, her father, Rex Walls, checked her out. Her parents later encouraged her to go back to cooking. It is clear that Jeannette’s safety was neglected by her parents. To be neglected as a child means “when a parent or caregiver does not give the care, supervision, affection and support needed for a child’s health, safety and well-being” (What is Child Abuse). In The Glass Castle, there are many times when the kids were neglected. Another time when the parents neglected the children’s safety is when their father took them to the zoo. But, they weren’t there just to look at the animals. On page 108, Jeannette tells of when her dad “took my hand and slowly guided it to the side of the cheetah’s neck”. Again, the father did not take into consideration that he was putting his children in danger because he believed that he had the situation under control. Therefore, it is clear that the children’s safety was

The definition of sexual abuse is “when an adult uses a child for sexual purposes or involves a child in sexual acts” (What is Child Abuse). There are two scenes in the book, where it was clear that the Walls children suffered from physical and sexual abuse. Both of the scenes take place at the home of Erma Walls, the mother of Rex Walls. At a point in the Walls children’s lives, their parents went back to Phoenix, where they previously lived, to collect their belongings. During this time, Erma described to have “became even more cantankerous” (Walls, 146). Then one day, the children were watching TV and Erma told Brian that there was a rip in his pants, so Erma had taken Brian to a separate room. When Jeannette had noticed that they had been gone for too long, she followed them. To her shock, she found Erma molesting Brian. She began to yell at Erma and Erma at her. When Lori had heard the commotion, she proceeded to enter the room. While trying to calm the atmosphere, Erma tried to slap Jeannette but Lori stopped her. Erma then slapped Lori and they began to fight. In this one scene, there is evidence of sexual abuse and physical abuse. At the time of this event, Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen were placed under the care of Erma Walls, making her their caregiver. According to the definition by childhelp.org, child abuse cannot only come from