A Child Called It By Dave Pelzer

Dave Pelzer was once a teen and he didn’t enjoy it because of his abusive alcoholic mother. His mother will beat him for no reason and his father does nothing because he is not their most of the day. He was saved by one of his teacher because the nurse saw that he got staved by his abusive mother. His mother is too harsh on him and his brothers get treated the right way and he doesn’t.

As a young child, David had a loving family, his Mommy, his father and his two brothers. By the time he was seven, he was being starved and abused by his mother. In his life, David had to face many challenges. One of which is having to play his mother’s “games” that left him half dead. He would also get punished for being a “bad boy” when he never did anything. Later, he had enough courage to tell someone, his 4th grade teachers at Thomas Edison Elementary School.

This paper evaluates how David Pelzer develops in his memoir, A Child Called “It”. Pelzer is evaluated using Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems model, Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems model demonstrates how Pelzer’s environment impacted his development greatly. Pelzer is greatly influenced through others by how they treat him. Throughout this memoir, Pelzer is in the concrete operations stage of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. The reader is also able to see Pelzer’s development from preconventional morality to conventional morality using Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning.

Some of the most painful situations in the book were when Dave seemed to be on the cusp of being saved from his terrifying home life, either by his father, school faculty, or a neighbor (Pelzer, 1995). There were too many times that someone knew of Dave’s condition and failed to protect him when they had the opportunity, due to fear, bureaucratic rules, or apathy. By using Urie Bronfenbrenner 's Ecological system’s model, a person can better understand the different ways David was helped or hurt. Dave was not only failed in his microsystem, but in his mesosystem as well. The school staff could clearly see

As a child Dave Pelzer was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother; a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games that left one of her sons nearly dead. She no longer considered him a son, but a slave; no longer a boy, but an 'it'. His bed was an old army cot in the basement, his clothes were torn and smelly, and when he was allowed the luxury of food it was scraps from the dogs' bowl. The outside world knew nothing of the nightmare played out behind closed doors. Dave dreamed of finding a family to love him and call him their son. It took years of struggle, deprivation and despair to find his dreams and make something of himself. A Child Called 'It' covers the early years of

A Child Called “It” by author David Pelzer is an incredibly emotional and vivid story of the experiences of a young boy. About his own life, Pelzer describes how he endured unthinkable abuse at the hand of his own mother. He provides detailed accounts of the abuse and neglect as well as the emotions and pain he endured, his struggle to cope and survive, and how he eventually was freed from her and the hell he was living. A Child Called “It” is a disturbingly real example of how children are victimized through various forms of maltreatment.

Pelzer figure if he was submissive to the punishment of his mother. By playing his mom’s games of punishment, he could survive another day to show her how great he was. The perspective of Pelzer made it easier for his mother to brain wash him to thinking that it was acceptable and he deserve punishment. This is an interesting perspective because all Dave wanted was love and if it had meant him going through with the punishments, he was willingly to prove how worthy and strong he could be for this

The definition of abuse is when someone uses cruel and violent treatment to negatively affect a person repeatedly. Abuse can come in a variety of ways, such as psychological abuse, mental abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and one of the most common yet overlooked is sexual abuse. In the book A Child Called IT, David Pelzer writes the story of his childhood. A child whose whole life was surrounded by abuse, his mother would beat him and hurt him in such a way that she left him almost dead in several occasions. Sharon olds wrote a series of poems that all seemed to link up together after reading them consecutively. I go back to May 1937 is dealing with changing her existence, Little things is about focusing on enjoying small things,

David Pelzer was finally freed from his abusive home after years of neglect from his family, doctors and educators. Through his book, A Child Called “it,” he recounts the different types of abuse he faced and the effects the abuse had on his ability to communicate with others and in his overall life. Throughout David’s abuse, his mother took the primary role of abuser by developing different reward and punishment techniques to discipline her child. As it is mentioned, her first disciplinary techniques and forms of abuse where to dehumanize and humiliate David by asking for others to ignore him, require the family to treat him as if he was not a member of the family, and wear the same clothes to school for months. David’s mother would also mentally mistreat him by using the “corner treatment” and then the “mirror treatment,” both techniques meant to make David believe that he was a “Bad Boy” that deserved to be punished. As well, his mother’s abuse often employed physical punishments such as beatings consisting of punches, kicking, and slapping. David was also stabbed once in the stomach and made to drink ammonia, Clorox and liquid soap. All of the abuse David suffered, resulted from years of child abuse neglect and sexism.

     The conflict of the story was Dave’s mother. She was cruel and unloving. She would drink and abuse Dave. For some reasons she never beat any of her other kids. Every time he stood up to her she would tell him he was a nobody or an “it”. She did cruel things for no reason. For example one time she tried putting him on the stove to burn him. Other times she would make a gas out of ammonia and Clorox in the bathroom and lock him in there for hours. The climax of the story is when people at school start noticing cuts and bruises on David. When a social worker is sent to his house, his mother starts treating him with love and pretends she’s sorry. Dave believes it and doesn’t say anything when the social worker comes. Dave thinks his dreams have come true and is very happy not knowing when the social

Dave's purpose of writing these books was to tell the world, how he was treated like many other kids are treated in the families. He was giving a message to other people, how child abuse had changed over many years. There are many kids in the world who are mistreated like David was. Reading his book makes you realize and makes you see through a child perpective of getting abused by this own mother.

Dave's hopes for rescue initially lay with his father. Once an advocate on behalf of his son, Stephan Pelzer, also an alcoholic, eventually grew tired of battling his wife and allowed her to do what she would to the boy. When Dave told his father that he had been stabbed, Stephan responded by asking why. Upon hearing that the boy had been stabbed while doing the dishes, the intoxicated father told his son, "Well, you ah , you better go back in there and do the dishes." He did, however, promise not to tell his wife about their conversation so that the boy wouldn't get into further trouble. It was at this moment that the boy realized that no one in his household would or could help him. Eventually, the elder Pelzer left the family, allowing his wife to take her reign of terror to new heights of sadism.

Dave Pelzer has endured so much in his past. The years of abuse that seemed like a never ending maze of torture, were like a routine of beatings to him. The wicked games that his mother played on him and the bizarre ways of practicing them, felt like an eternity for a 12 year old boy. Nevertheless, for every darkest storm there is a shining ray. The ray of hope that has fueled Pelzer's motivation to strive for the best, for his freedom, and for a brighter future. Pelzer's journey to finding the power to continue begins by acceptance; accepting the fact that he is an abuse victim. Once the acceptance has been initialized, the healing process begins to take place.

The beginning of the book talks about what it was like before things went horrifyingly wrong. The family took vacations together, his mother was a loving mother and wife, and Dave's father was his hero. This eventually changed, as did everything in Dave's life. His father never turned out to be his hero, but a drunken firefighter who left him, and at times he wished his mother dead. When the torture and abuse began it was minimal, Dave describes it in the book as punishment instead of discipline but as the book progressed so does the intensity. As the story progresses Dave's feelings are expresses, he speaks of his mother, as either "The Bitch" or just "Mother" there is absolutely no love in the way he speaks of her at all. His anger is also expressed and shown in way he talks about his, once beloved hero, his father and his brothers.

The police told David he had to call his mom and David begged for him not to but he told him he would tell her about how he was going to be taken to jail. This statement was not true of course but David thought he really was being taken to jail until he left with the officer once again and the officer turns to David and tells him he's free and that his mom will never hurt him again. David’s years after consisted of foster home to foster home and when he turned 18 years old he decided to join the Military which was his life-long dream. David never contacted his family, or mainly his mother, ever again. He didn't wish to speak to them for that matter and never did. David was finally happy with his life and away from his miserable mother and family. To me this book is sad but it is an amazing example of how our own spirit can provide strength and hope in the worst situations. David's spirit and hope for a better tomorrow helped him to survive through his mother's emotional and physical abuse he received for years. David absolutely refused to let his mother win. He had no one to help him or lean on so he learned how to fend for himself. His profound courage and determination saved him along with help finally from teachers, the nurse and the police officer.