By David Allen, Drew Academy
Do the Write Thing Challenge
Thousands of people are abused every day. Child abuse is a form of abuse that can take a toll on anyone. Child abuse can happen anytime, anywhere, with anyone. Abuse is wrong and needs to be stopped.
The effects from different forms of child abuse affects a person’s development and self-growth. Thelma Davis said, “Learn new ways of living instead of repeating what you lived through.”
A 35-year-old woman left three kids in a hot car by themselves. They were found with high levels of carbon monoxide in their system. A 2-year-old was behind the driver’s seat, an 8-year-old laying on the back seat, and a 3-year-old in the arms of the woman. They were in dirty clothes, had various cuts and scrapes, and had very dirty fingernails.
When I was in the 5th grade, I had a friend who was a victim of child abuse. Her name was Elizabeth and she was my girl-best-friend at that time. She came to me one day and told me about it. She was hit, kicked, punched and sexually assaulted by her older brothers and father. I asked her, why doesn’t she just call the cops? And she said, she’d tried. When the cops arrived, she was hidden. There wasn’t even an investigation. One day she came to school with bruises and scrapes, and I was really mad. l planned to tell the school, but she said that was the reason she looked so bad.
Pictured with Greg Akin of Texas Parks and Wildlife (l). Roy Douglas Malonson of RS Deer and Cattle Ranch and Founder of Acres Home Chamber for Business & Economic Development, and African American News and Issues Newspaper (center) & Earnest Washington, Jr., Principal at Drew Academy Magnet Middle School, where David was entered into the Do The Write Thing competition, (r).
She had told the school about it, and once again her family got away. A couple weeks later she stopped talking, and then during recess she went to the restroom and tried to kill herself with scissors. After that, I never saw her again. The last I heard of her was that she had run away and was selling her body.
I wish that I would have told someone instead of keeping quiet because I might have made a difference. As you can see, abuse is a very hurtful thing that has many bad consequences, which can really affect someone’s life. If abuse is present, you should always tell someone of age or in authority.
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