A Child Called 'It' is the story of a young boy who, in order to survive, must triumph over the physical, emotional, and medical abuse created by his mother. The misuses of alcohol play an important role in the neglect and abuse that Dave's mother inflicted on him. Alcohol also had an impact on Dave's father's ability to intervene on Dave's behalf. Dave considered the abuse he endured by his mother, 'games', and always tried to be one small step ahead of her.
The outside world does nothing to help out a small child suffering from various forms of abuse. The few people who took notice were David's teachers and the school nurse. Yet it took them a considerable amount of time to finally build up suspicion and finally report Dave's problems to the proper authorities. I find the unreported instances observed by the public to be just as substantial a crime as what the child abusers themselves did.
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