The Child Called It By Dave Pelzer

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He was once loved by her, but after four years, he became no one to her. He was no longer a son that she loves. He became loved. He was now a slave, filth, nothing. He was “It”. Dave was “It” to her, and nothing more. In Dave Pelzer's award winning autobiography, “The Child Called It”, he recounts the horrors of his childhood where he was abused by his alcoholic mother from the ages of four through twelve. His mother did unspeakable and heinous things to him. She slapped him, she starved him, she beat him, and she even stabbed him. Pelzer’s father, nor his brothers, did not try to intervene and stop Catherine from abusing Dave. Dave lost his identity while he was being abused. It was as if he was a robot going through the chores his mother gave him. He tried to persist in pleasing her to keep her from getting angry, but nothing that Dave did could please her or make her happy. He tried hard everyday to keep his hope that he would be rescued, alive, yet no one could help him, and no one was there to help him. His own family, his own blood, wouldn’t help him. He tried to get help, but every time, he was caught and severely punished. The fear he felt around her was palpable and overpowering, and it is this fear that kept him from trying to run again. Dave Pelzer’s child abuse case, is one of the most brutal recorded cases concerning child abuse in America. At such a young age, Pelzer experienced three out of the four types of abuse: neglect, physical abuse and mental or emotional abuse. As we recount this story, we may be wondering to ourselves, “What causes someone to become a child abuser?” It is not known as of today, and might not ever be known because child abuse happens to people across the board, and there is no clear p... ... middle of paper ... ... Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453). There are other ways to help abused children. We can volunteer at the San Francisco Child Abuse Advocacy Center. There are disparate opportunities such as becoming a volunteer that works in the Children’s Playroom where one plays with abused children. Moreover, one can also become part of the SFCAAC’s TALK Hotline where one speaks to callers and helps them with any questions or gives callers advice. These are only two examples of what we can all do to help abused children. So start today. Start to change the world by doing the most you can to help an abused child. Helping can be as simple as sending a child a letter and letting them know that they are not alone, that there are people that are willing to help them when they feel that there is no one there, that even if times seem tough at the moment, time heals wounds. 1

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