“Why Kids Don't Tell on Adults Who Abuse Them.” Fox News, FOX News Network, 2 Feb. 2012 ,www.foxnews.com/health/2012/02/02/why-kids-dont-tell-on-adults-who-abuse-them.html
This article tells the story of how an elementary school teacher abused at least twenty-three students of ages five to ten. Mark Berndt was accused of abusing at least twenty-three kid throughout his teaching career. This article goes into some detail of why children at that age do not think they are being abused. The article also briefly explains how that child believe that adults and those who are in positions of authority have their best interests at heart. The child might also put the blame on themselves instead of others. Also, they state that children are very vulnerable
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One of the biggest reason why this is happening and they don't believe children are getting abused is because most of the younger children are less likely to accurately describe details about what happened to them. The children are not old enough to know how to explain and describe what is happening to them, they don’t know how to put it into words Younger children are not aware of what is happening and are more innocent and vulnerable. They might not also know they are being abused, studies according to the article found that children tend to delay disclosing incidences of abuse, sometimes for years. The article also explains why parents do not want to go through the trouble of taking the abuser threw trail because they feel like their word will not be believed and they don't want their child to go through all the stress of a legal case. I personally would like to make justice for that my child went through but at the same time I wouldn't want them to be the under all the pressure at trial but sometimes it's what's right that needs to be done.
Pelzer, David J. A Child Called "It": an Abused Child's Journey from Victim to Victor. Health Communications, 1995. The book “A Child Called It” is one of the most heartbreaking stories. The book tells a story of a little boy who is being abused by his own mother. The book not only gets into detail of how he is being abused but of how he is feeling. You can feel the child's feelings and emotions and also imagine how he was being tortured. He is frequently being punished. Despite this terrible beginning he manages to turn his life around.
Crosson-Tower, Cynthia. Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect. Pearson Education,
A Child Called “It” is a story based on a real life little boy’s tribulations with his mothers shocking abuse. The first part of Dave's life was idyllic in his memory--he says his family was "the Brady Bunch"--a loving mother and father with whom he enjoyed wonderful holidays and a happy trip to the Russian River. Everyone on the outside thought that David’s family was perfect. No one in their neighborhood would have suspected anything was wrong. All that changed when Dave was in first grade. For no known reason, his mother singled him out from his siblings and began abusing him. The abuse began relatively mildly. When he and his brothers did something wrong, Dave was the one to receive punishment--at first simply banishment to the corner of a bedroom. Then, his mother began spending her days watching TV and drinking beer. Easily irritated, she yelled at Dave for the slightest reason, or sometimes for no reason at all. Soon, instead of making him go down to the basement, Mrs. Pelzer smashed Dave's face against the mirror, then made him repeat, over and over, "I'm a bad boy! I'm a bad boy!" He was forced to stand for hours staring into that mirror. Dave's father soon joined The Mother, as David called her, in her drinking. He, too, knew David was a "good boy." He did not join in the abuse, but he did not to stop it, either. David was treated like a slave in his own home. His mother treated him as if he wasn’t even a member of the family like a nobody or an “It”. She first referred to him as, “The Boy, then it quickly changed to It”. Nobody at his school liked him, they called him "Pelzer Smelzer" because his mom never washed his clothes and made him wear the same thing every day. After school, o...
'You are a nobody! An It!?(Pelzer 140). These were the raw, disheartened remarks that came from the disgusting coldhearted mother's mouth. These painful hurting remarks at her son was how the book got its title and that's what interested me in reading this book. A Child Called 'It', by Dave Pelzer, is a life-changing story about, a young boy who is starved, beat, and tortured by his mother and her cruel games, yet he manages to turn his life around when he grows up. This young boy uses his faith, self-discipline, and will power to overrule his mother's destruction and life damaging obstacles.
McCoy, M. L., & Keen, S. M., (2009). Child abuse and neglect. New York: Psychology Press.
Dave Pelzer’s book “A Child Called ‘It’” told his story of growing up in an abusive household. Pelzer’s family at first was just like any other, his parents loved each other and their children and they would do many fun activities together. As time progressed a change happened and his mother began to always punish Pelzer rather than any of the other children. The small punishments soon began to grow and become more and more serious. Soon, Dave’s father and siblings could not help him out of fear that their mother and wife would turn on them. Dave was banished to the garage where he would have to sit at the bottom of the stairs waiting until his mother called him to do his chores. Usually Pelzer would be starved for very long periods of time
Pelzer, Dave. A child called “it.” An abused child’s journey from victim and victor. London: Orion Books Limited, 2008. Print.
The main characters are David, his mother, and father. David, the abused child, cannot escape his mother’s punishments. David’s mother is a drunken, abusive mother that refers to her child as “It”. David’s father is caring and understanding, but cannot help David escape. The mother and father drastically change after the alcohol abuse. David also changes in his attitude towards his parents.
It happens to children of all ages, communities, and socioeconomic levels at an alarmingly high rate. What is so astonishing is that this happens even at the hands of their parents. For the most part, these cases go unpunished for several reasons which could include lack of regulations to do so, corruption, or just unreported. For example, in David’s case, teachers, nurses, principal, neighbors, or even relatives could have been among the witnesses but they failed to report. Reasons were because they do not want any involvement, guilt of maybe reporting a relative, fear of retribution, afraid of starting trouble, or home privacy among others.
According to Papalia and Feldman, an estimation of a tragic 905,000 cases were received by child protective services in response to about 3.3 million referrals regarding maltreatment within six million children in the year of 2006. One of the six million children include, David Pelzer. David, in his awe-inspiring novel, A Child Called It, takes the reader upon an unfortunate path as he reflects upon the deplorable life struggles he experienced from the cruel actions of his abusive alcoholic mother. Despite the never ending struggles throughout his daily life at such a young age, David learns to become resilient as time progresses. Keeping in mind that writing this autobiographical
Abuse and neglect can lead to psychological effects that can hinder a child into adulthood such as anxiety, depression and flashbacks. Research states, that if a child was presented with a positive and stable life in their younger stages of life, they are less likely to develop emotional sensors that allow them to repeat the same negative behavior against their own children when they are adults (Effects of Child Abuse and Neglect). In David’s case he remember his mother being an immaculate woman who spent time with her family making sure they knew they could count on her. Children who are abused physically tend to have bruises, fractures and abrasions where they are not common. Catherine abused and neglected David emotionally which was undetected since he never said anything to anyone, and the scars inflicted on him could be concealed by his clothing. The nurse only saw the stab womb on David’s stomach when she conducted her routine exam. I agree, with the article when it implies that every child that was abused does not mean that they are going to be an abuser too. In my opinion, we all can take the right track to our destiny, by being our own person, we can see the demise in someone else and choose to accept walk that same path or choose our own path because we saw the destruction that they went through in the process of being so
The life of David Pelzer began with horrifying odds; however, he managed to pull himself from the ashes of poverty to become the admired man he is today. He endured overwhelming amounts of psychological and physical abuse during his youth. He suffered brutal indignities endorsed by his mother and during his early years he was tortured in an inhumane and degrading environment. During the latter years of his youth, he was placed in the foster care system and he went on to service the military. During his career as an author, Pelzer published many successful biographies (Foster Club.) The first successful memoir was titled "A Child Called It." It was a non-fiction novel depicting Pelzer's childhood. As an adult, Pelzer became an advocate for children
Adults abused as children need to confront the abuse they have experienced. To face and admit that they have been abused, adults should no longer live in denial. As children, they were constantly in denial because they did not realize they were being abused by the people they loved and trusted. Denial, a defense tactic, helps children feel safe away from painful, unpleasant memories. Growing up in denial will result adults abused as children avo...
It is hard to believe that anyone could abuse his or her child as Pelzer describes in his book. His mother, an alcoholic, was abusing him from the age of four until he was twelve years old. Actually, it all started innocently and without the beatings. The reason was quite understandable at first. The author said that he was a loud child who
Many people think that children do not lie. It is not that they lie, they just cannot remember what happened a year or two ago when they were much younger, perhaps only a year or two old. The truth is children do lie. “One study shows that twenty three percent of abuse allegations are false and there was insufficient information to determine the truth in another twenty four percent” (Slicker W.D., 1999, Child testimony ¶ 16). Fear is also a factor in children lying or not providing adequate information. Lepore (1991) says that studies show in most abuse cases the suspect will usually bribe the child or threaten them into secrecy. This causes the child to become afraid to tell the truth, and they will begin to deny what has happened or even worse not report the abuse at all. The way an interviewer phrases a question will influence a child.
The Novel starts out where it left off in the novel A Child called “It” which is his mother as always abusing him. To better knowledge you on this book the first paragraph of this novel reads ( I’m alone. I’m hungry and I’m shivering in the dark. I sit on top of my hands at the bottom of the stairs in the garage. My head is tilted backward. My hands became numb hours ago. My neck and shoulder muscles begin to throb. But that’s nothing new- I’ve learned to turn off the pain. I’m Mother’s prisoner.) This nine years old boy was treated worse then the animals he lived with. He was told when to move, when to eat, and when he was aloud to sleep. This novel takes you threw him being taken from his mother which made him a ward of the state to going threw series of foster family and also in a juvenile detention center.
First off I am going to start with what is happening, and where it is happening. Child abuse happens everywhere, some places more severe than others. Any form of abuse should be brought to the light. Whether it is physical, mental, or sexual abuse, the cruelty is taking place in every corner of the world. Most third world countries have no laws for child labor, or how far you can take punishment. Even if there is laws in the country it is taking place in the adult might not get in as much trouble as I think they should. Now a days you can physically, mentally, sexually abuse and neglect your child with minimal punishment. Most of the abuse happens behind closed doors also. The caregiver usually threatens the children if they say they are going to tell someone. I believe that the stats online for child abuse are lower than they really are because children are afraid to talk about their situations.