All children, except one, grow up.
So said JM Barrie in the opening words of Peter Pan. Only it isn’t true. The reality is that far too many children never get the opportunity to grow up; or have to grow up before their time; or find that childhood isn’t the wonderful experience portrayed by Peter Pan, and all because of abuse or neglect suffered at the hands of their parents.
Right from the beginning they started beating him for almost no reason at all. They never called him by his real name, but always referred to him as ‘you disgusting little beast’ or ‘you filthy nuisance’ or ‘you miserable creature’… His room was as bare as a prison cell.
Roald Dahl. James and the Giant Peach, p8.
The food would be cold and would be given to her on a piece of plastic while she was tied up in the bath. She would eat it like a dog, pushing her face to the plate. Except, of course that a dog is not usually tied up in a plastic bag full of its excrement.
Neil Garnham, QC – Victoria Climbié Inquiry
Victoria spent much of her last days, in the winter of 1999–2000, living and sleeping in a bath in an unheated bathroom, bound hand and foot inside a bin bag, lying in her own urine and faeces. It is not surprising then that towards the end of her short life, Victoria was stooped like an old lady and could walk only with great difficulty
He found the cause of death to be hypothermia, which had arisen in the context of malnourishment, a damp environment and restricted movement. He also found 128 separate injuries on Victoria’s body, showing she had been beaten with a range of sharp and blunt instruments. No part of her body had been spared. Marks on her wrists and ankles indicated that her arms and legs had been tied together.
Child abuse is a reality, an unimaginable reality, for many children. A reality that goes way beyond the imagined worlds we see in children’s fiction.
These notes are from a seminar I gave recently on child abuse and children’s literature. I’d be really interested in any views/comments on the issues raised.