David Child Abuse

Dave suffered from severe child abuse at the hands of his alcoholic mother. Child abuse is defined by federal law as “any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation.” (Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act) Child abuse could be considered as an umbrella term with many different categories such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. David was subjected to physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. Physical abuse is when “a child has suffered, or is at risk of suffering, non-accidental physical trauma or injury.” (Department of Communities Child Safety and Disability Services) An example of this would

be when Pelzer recalls “the oncoming blows began to rock me from side to side. I tried to protect my face with my hands, but Mother would only knock them away. Her punches seemed to last forever.” (p.

34) This is just one of the many times his mother harmed him physically. She regularly found new and cruel ways to torture him. Emotional abuse can be defined as “when a child's social, emotional, cognitive or intellectual development is impaired or threatened.” (Department of Communities Child Safety and Disability Services) Emotional abuse includes rejection, hostility, teasing/bullying, yelling, and criticism. An example of this in the book would be all the times David’s mother called him a “bad boy” even though it was not clear to David why he was a “bad boy” or when she started referring to him as “it” and “boy” instead of his name. Neglect “occurs when a child's basic necessities of life are not met, and their health and development are affected.” (Department of Communities Child Safety and Disability Services). These necessities include food, health care, adequate clothing, personal hygiene, hygienic living conditions, and timely provisions of medical treatment. David was denied all these things. He was regularly starved and forced to throw up any food he may have stolen and sometimes even forced to eat his own throw

up. His mother broke his arm and did not take him to the hospital until the next day and when she stabbed him she took care of the wound herself instead of taking him to the hospital. He was forced to wear the same raggedy clothes to school every day. Overall, Pelzer suffered severe child abuse.
This book has opened my eyes to the reality that is child abuse.

There may be several different forms and severity of abuse however it is still abuse and can be very traumatizing for the child. I especially like the part of Pelzer’s book labeled “Perspectives on child abuse” which brings awareness to child abuse and the fact that it is roughly estimated “one in five children are physically, emotionally, or sexually abused in our country” (p.161) that is a saddening statistic. It makes me feel so helpless knowing there are plenty of children who are sad and alone due to child abuse. This book solidified my decision to become a social worker. I would love to be able to help children like David get out of abusive

homes.
A Child Called “It” took me through a rollercoaster of emotions. For the most part I felt disgust for the mother wondering how she could do that to her own child. However, I remember that she is an alcoholic and probably has some mental issues. Then, I feel sorrow for David and all he has had to endure knowing he was robed of most of his childhood. I had to take several breaks throughout the book because I could not beer to read about all the new and unusual ways David’s mother punished him. Several times I felt anger towards David’s dad for being a coward and not sticking up for David more or at least informing authorities of what his wife was doing to his child. I like to think that if I encountered a case similar to David’s I would call authorities immediately whether that be the cops or Child Protective Services. I believe that David Pelzer is free now. His goal was to survive and do something with his life and I believe he has done exactly that. He is a retired crew member of the United States Air Force, he has been recognized through many awards such as the J.C. Penny Golden Rule Award, He was also honored as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Americans. He also has a son and is a published author and an advocate for child abuse. Maybe he was freed through his books and writing about his experience with child trauma, since talking about trauma can be very helpful with healing.