{"id":18838,"date":"2020-11-28T14:26:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-28T18:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=18838"},"modified":"2020-11-28T18:41:11","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T22:41:11","slug":"david-pelzer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/david-pelzer\/","title":{"rendered":"David Pelzer: School Offers Little Refuge From Abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Who is David Pelzer? How did David Pelzer live through school while being abused at home?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Child Called “It”<\/em> is the book David Pelzer wrote about his childhood spent being abused by his mother. The abuse takes place over the course of his elementary school years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about David Pelzer as a child and his elementary school years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

David Pelzer in Elementary School<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When David gets to second grade, his teacher Miss Moss notices his bruises, constant tiredness, and ragged clothes. Miss Moss asks David Pelzer what\u2019s going on, but he simply repeats the lies Mother has instructed him to tell. Unconvinced, Miss Moss talks to the principal, who calls Mother; when David arrives home from school that day, Mother is irate and beats him until his nose bleeds and he loses a tooth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mother has to go to the school to meet with the principal. Surprisingly, she comes home elated: She brags to David that she convinced the principal that David makes up stories and even hurts himself to get attention<\/a>. Mother told the principal that the school staff shouldn\u2019t believe any of David\u2019s tall tales about being hurt or hungry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

David is devastated. First, even if he musters the courage to ask for help from anyone at school, now no one will believe him.<\/strong> Additionally, the meeting has bolstered Mother\u2019s confidence and David fears that it will make her more brazen and brutal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third Grade<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By third grade, Mother doesn\u2019t let David ride to school with his brothers. Instead, after David finishes his chores, he has to run to school, leaving him no time to steal his classmates\u2019 food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

School is no longer a refuge for David. His classmates tease him for stealing food and for wearing tattered, smelly clothes. David\u2019s ostracized both at home and at school, and he feels completely alone; building on the vow he made after the stove incident, David reminds himself only he can ensure his survival.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourth Grade<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A few others outside the family begin to notice that something\u2019s wrong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the first couple weeks of David\u2019s fourth-grade year, he has a substitute teacher who intuits that there are problems in David\u2019s home life.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The substitute teacher informs the school nurse. The following month, the nurse calls David to see her, and she asks him about his bruises and tattered clothes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

David initially repeats the lies Mother has taught him to tell. After some talking, David begins to trust the nurse enough to tell the truth<\/a>, and the nurse invites David to come back and talk to her anytime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

School Is No Refuge<\/strong> for David Pelzer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By fifth grade, school isn\u2019t the escape it used to be for David Pelzer as a child. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

David\u2019s poor sleep and constant hunger make it difficult for him to focus, and his pent-up frustrations lead to unwarranted outbursts. David\u2019s odd behavior doesn\u2019t help the bullying he\u2019s already faced for years, targeted because of his smelly and tattered clothes. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two bullies are especially persistent: Clifford, who often beats David up on his way home from school, and Aggie, who teases David relentlessly. On a field trip to the historic Clipper Ships in San Francisco, Aggie tells David that his life is so bad that he should jump off the ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Ziegler Encourages David<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

One bright spot in fifth grade is David\u2019s homeroom teacher, Mr. Ziegler. Once the nurse tells Mr. Ziegler that David\u2019s abuse is the reason for his behavior issues, Mr. Ziegler makes a point of treating David like the other students and not writing him off as a problem student. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Ziegler chooses David Pelzer to be on a committee to name the school newspaper. David\u2019s suggestion is ultimately selected, and Mr. Ziegler tells David that he\u2019s proud of him; this is the first positive feedback David has heard in years. Mr. Ziegler also sends David home with a letter to Mother, telling her she should be proud of David\u2019s achievement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

David is thrilled, but as soon as Mother reads the letter she rips it up and retorts that nothing he does will ever make her proud and she wishes he were dead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That day David realizes that Mother\u2019s hate for him is genuine, and he can no longer attribute it to alcohol. <\/strong>David Pelzer as a child had to accept this reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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