Blog 2: Option 3

Unspoken Abuse

Annie Kenyon

When we think of the word home we think warmth, protection and privacy from the huge world we live in. It is a place for relaxation and a time to spend with the people you love. Sadly, this isn’t the case for 1 in every 100 children in the United States.

Children react to physical and sexual abuse in “unpredicted ways” (Katz). With both physical and emotional abuse most children accept the abuse. Some children often believe that “they have no other choice but to endure abuse by their parents, who they depend on for love and support” (Katz). Bone became a victim early on in her childhood. When Anney was in the hospital, Glen and the girls waited in the car awaiting the arrival of the new addition to the family. All Glen wanted was a boy and what Glen wanted, Glen usually didn’t get. His life consisted of failure and disappointment and the only thing he had was Anney and the kids. He did not have the power to pick the sex of the child, but had the power to take advantage and for once feel in control of his life the night in the parking lot. While sitting with Bone on his lap he exclaimed multiple times to Bone that it’s going to be all right and that they were all going to be happy. Holding Bone on his lap “he grunted, squeezed my thighs between his arm and his leg. His chin pressed down on my head and his hips pushed me up at the same time. He was hurting me, hurting me” (Allison 47). At that moment, Bones life would be forever changed.

According to Carmi Katz, Bone reacted like most other children do. She told no one because she felt that she needed her parents (especially her mom) “to survive, and in some cases, parents love, care for, and support their children when they are not abusing them” (Katz). Bone thought Glen “really did love us” (Alison 51). She didn’t want to believe that day even happened and kept on trying to convince herself that it was a dream. Bones biggest concern was not hurting her mother who had already been through enough.  

            Like most kids Bone decided to “endure the abuse” (Katz). She began to blame it all on herself, “When Daddy Glen beat me there was always a reason, and Mama would stand right outside the bathroom door” (Alison 110). Even her mother would start to believe that she was beaten for a reason, when it really was just a way for Glen to express his anger and insecurities. Not being able/wanting to talk about what is happening at home results in “children suffering from emotional and behavioral problems” (Katz). Bone began to hate her self and when Glen looked at her with his “cold, angry eyes” she felt like the “most disgusting person on earth. I didn’t deserve to live another day” (Alison 136). For Bone and millions of other children around the world, abuse becomes just another part of their everyday lives. A home stops feeling like a home a more like a house. A place one comes back to because they have no place else to go.  

Link: http://www.firstpost.com/living/why-children-who-are-victims-of-sex-abuse-hardly-speak-up-1306183.html