Analysis Of A Child Called It By David Pelzer

“A Child Called ‘It’” by Dave Pelzer, is a remarkable story of a young boy named David. In this sad and upsetting story, one is taken into specific details of one of the worst cases of child abuse and neglect ever recorded in the state of California. Personally, it is one of the most awful cases of abuse I have known. During my time reading, I found myself several times giving thanks for being raised in a loving and caring household. My home was not perfect, but compared to David’s, it was. Regrettably, I believe child abuse is a major issue that our country is afflicted with, yet we neglect to bring this to the forefront of discussion. According to the National Statistics on Child Abuse, an estimated 676,000 children a year are victims of

Throughout the story, you realize how scary it must have been for this young boy. He had no one to help him, take care of him, or even love him. However, David’s story is also one of pure human survival. “Mother can beat me all she wants, but I haven’t let her take away my will to somehow survive.” That is a sentence from page 4 and it shows David’s situation on March 3, 1973, the moment he found freedom, and was taken from his abusive mother by authorities while he was at school. Thanks to his teacher Miss Moss. This encapsulates for me, the main theme of the book. It displays the will a young child needed to have to survive. In addition to reading and being thankful for how I was raised, I was also reminded of the importance of being a clinician who is vigilant for signs of abuse and neglect in

During the time his mother was starving him, David found a way to locate food. As he mentioned at one point, “finding food was like finding treasure.” He would eat leftovers found in the garbage bag at home, steal food from other school children, grocery stores, or even gas stations. If his mother was suspicious about him finding ways to feed himself, she would stand him in front of the toilet bowl, stick her fingers in his mouth and force him to vomit. Later, she would bring a food bowl, and make him take the chunks he vomited out of the water and just stare at it. During this she would stand in front of him and call him a “bad boy” for stealing food. Other times she would make him eat