A Child Called "It" An Abused Child''s Journey From Victim to Victor Book Review
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Published: August 01, 2007
A Child Called "It" An Abused Child''s Journey From Victim to Victor is a true account of the life of Dave Peltzer as an abused child. Dave was born into a loving family and he had two other brothers. His father was a fireman and his mother was a stay-at-home mom who had attended nursing school. They were a happy family before the drinking started. His parents started drinking every day at 3 p.m. They called it their "Happy Hour". The children were free to watch television from 3 p.m. until they fell asleep. After the drinking started, Dave''s mother turned into a cold, abusive mother. I don''t believe that this was Dave''s true mother as much as it was the Abuse of alcohol. Dave''s mother did not abuse Dave''s two other brothers; just Dave. She treated the other brothers with love and kindness, but Dave was treated like a nobody, a "thing" or "it". His mother beat him mercilessly all the time for no reason. She simply said, "you are a "bad boy". She made Dave sleep in the garage on a cart with no heat. He had no food. He ate out of the garbage can after his mother threw the scaps in it. He had chores to do, but his other brothers did not. Dave''s mother often sent him looking for her ''things'' for hours when she knew that her ''things'' did not exist. She broke his arm and told him to tell his teachers that he fell out of the top bunk bed. His mother held his arm over the high flame on the stove and burned it. She put clorox bleach and ammonia in a bucket and locked him in the garage with no ventilation. Once she made him drink the concoction and he almost died. She made him take one of his baby brother''s diapers and smear feces all over his face. Dave''s mother gave him chores to do within a certain timeframe and if he did not finish them within the time allotted, she would not give him any food to eat. Dave''s mother made a game out fo the abuse. Dave started stealing his classmates lunches for food and when he got caught, his mother was called by the school. That made things worse for Dave. When he got home, his mother made him stick his finger down his throat until he vomited. She wanted to see if the had eaten anything. Then she made him eat his own vomit. Once Dave''s mother wanted him to lay on top of the stove and she was going to turn the flames on, but Dave''s father came home just in time. This kind of treatment went on for years. DAve''s father was too drunk and too week to help him. The school nurse kept a log of Dave''s visits to her office and the injuries that he had suffered. After a while, the school officials grew tired of Dave''s appearance, the way he smelled, the bruises, the broken arms, and the stealing of food. They knew that he was being abused. One day Dave was summoned to the principal''s office and asked tow ait there until the officials had a meeting. The officials decided to contact the police department and report Dave as an abused child. Dave went to the police department with the police officer and on the way the officer told Dave "you''re free". Later Dave''s mother was contacted by the police officer and he informed her that her child was in police custody and would not becoming to live with her again. Dave was placed in a juvenile center and he remained there until he grew up. There is also a chapter in this book entitled "The Lord''s Prayer". Dave said that he remembered calling out to God to make the abuse stop. His mother had beat him from one end of the house to the other and that night he got down on his knees and prayed that God would make his mother sick. He said that he prayed so hard that his head started hurting and the next day his mother was sick. He agot better, the abuse started all over again. I believe that if Dave had continued to call out to God in sincerity things would have gotten better for him at home. Dave lost faith in God. It certainly would be easy to lose faith in a home environment like that. He stopped praying to God and dwelt on his circumstances instead. Jesus saves! Jesus knew all about Dave''s abuse. God always has someone to help us. In Dave''s case it was the nurse, teachers, and the principal at his school that cared enough to do something about his abuse. After Dave grew up, he went into the military and retired from the United States Air Force. While serving in the Air Force, Dave worked in Juvenile Hall and other programs involving "Youth at Risk" throughout the state of California. He has received numerous awards for his work with abused children. In 1994, Dave was the only United States citizen to be awarded as the Outstanding Young Persons of the World. Dave has a son that he adores. There are thousands of children out there living in abusive homes where Jesus is neither known or respected. They suffer all the more. What would you do if you knew a child was being abused?
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