Pelzer Child Abuse

858 Words4 Pages
Every ten seconds, a report of child abuse is made. All too often, children who are abused at a young age often grow up to be dysfunctional. 30% of abused children will grow up to neglect their own children. Although child abuse is illegal, many children still suffer from this violent act. As a young boy, Dave Pelzer experienced first hand what it was like to be physically, mentally, and emotionally abused. In his award-winning novel, A Child Called “It”, he draws the reader in through his graphic description of the tragedies he faced as a child. His mother frequently hit him and called him a “bad boy”. No matter what good deed Dave accomplished, his mom was never impressed. Even though Dave had “more happy face papers than anyone in class…mother continued to roar that [he] had shamed the family” (Pelzer 360). His mother was an abusive alcoholic who hit Dave any chance she was given. His punishments consisted of punches, stabbings, long periods of time without food, being trapped in a room with strong…show more content…
Many kids don’t even have to be physically hit to feel neglected or alone. Sometimes, words can hurt more than physical violence. Leslie, a victim of child abuse says her mother was “very clever at using emotional abuse to get my sister and I to do what she wanted” (James 2). Emotional abuse at a young age can cause a child to grow up to be insecure, depressed and having that constant thought in their head that they will never be good enough. Anybody who thinks it is okay for a child to have thoughts like that ever needs to reevaluate the end result. Leslie grew up knowing two emotions: “fear and obligation” (James 2). A kid’s childhood should be filled with enjoyable memories of security and love. No child should ever feel as if they are not good enough or have to question their existence. It is so heartbreaking to hear stories of kids who have lived through these tough times, such as child
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