Getting Truthful

         Okay, I must say this. I have cried a lot this year, much more than I had expected. Researching child abuse and neglect is hard for me. There are so many stories that social work doesn't help the client. It's hard not to get attached. A man sexually abusing his 16 month old son. A woman declaring that her daughters are spawn of the devil and beats them and lets their stepfather sexually abuse them. The Child Called It, Precious. A feral child rescued by the system. A child from the past that helps us in the future.

Danielle "Dani" Lierow

   The Girl in the Window, this is the most recent case of a feral child. In 2008, a couple in Plant City, Florida saw a little girl's face by broken glass where they thought no child lived there. She was malnourished,dirty and broken. Social services has helped her find a new home, a new family, a brand new start. You can check her story here if you want to know more. 

Sylvia Linkens

   There also cases like Sylvia Linkens. Her parents left her and her sister, Jenny, with Gertrude Baniszewski. This woman and a group of children tortured, abused and finally killed this 16 year old in the 1960s. There are some books and films you can read about this crime and you can make a correlation with The Lord of the Flies. This is a case where no one was aware what to do when they saw signs of child abuse and how to report it. This case haunts us. You can read about this case here. It's a strong, explicit case. Don't read it if you can't handle torture, humiliation and so on.
   This case helped the push of getting everyone informed of child abuse and neglect and how to talk about and report it to the authorities. Witnesses saw her and saw the abuse and no one spoke up. If one person said a word, just one to the right person she would have lived. She helps us remember that this is unjust and that we don't want children to go through this. She left her legacy with her death. Let's make a difference in her honor. I hope to get a fundraiser going to give money to abused and neglected children the items they need in school.  
   Hopefully doing this will help me move on from my past and help people know the signs of child abuse and neglect and the multiple ways to report it. Learning about this cases has helped me looked for ways to help. Let's see how my mentorship goes.Sorry I got carried away.