Posted on 09/14/2008 8:57:03 PM PDT by neverdem
When Claire, a pixie-faced 6-year-old in a school uniform, heard her older brother, James, enter the family’s Manhattan apartment, she shut her bedroom door and began barricading it so swiftly and methodically that at first I didn’t understand what she was doing. She slid a basket of toys in front of the closed door, then added a wagon and a stroller laden with dolls. She hugged a small stuffed Pegasus to her chest. “Pega always protects me,” she said softly. “Pega, guard the door.”
James, then 10, had been given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder two years earlier. He was attending a therapeutic day school in another borough and riding more than an hour each way on a school bus, so he came home after Claire. Until James’s arrival that April afternoon, Claire was showing me sketches she had drawn of her Uglydolls and chatting about the Web site JibJab, where she likes to watch goofy videos. At the sound of James’s footsteps outside her bedroom door, she flattened herself behind the barricade. There was a sharp knock. After a few seconds, James’s angry, wounded voice barked, “Forget it,” and the steps retreated.
“If it’s my brother, I don’t open it,” Claire said. “I don’t care if I’m being mean. . . . I never trust him. James always jumps out and scares me. He surprises me in a bad way.”
I left Claire’s bedroom and found James with his mother, Mary, in their spacious living room, which has a sidelong view of the Hudson River. James is a fair, athletic-looking boy with a commanding voice and a restless, edgy gait. He began reading aloud a story he wrote at school called “The Mystery of My Little Sister.” It involved James discovering Claire almost dead, rescuing her and forming a...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The younger sister was truly being abused. She deserved to be protected. The parents should have sent the older brother away long before rather than subject their younger child to such a dreadful environment. Difficult decision? Maybe. But keeping an older, bigger, aggressive, jealous, out-of-control child around a smaller, weaker child is neglect at best and unwitting abuse at worst. Remember that kid in Florida who “accidentally” killed the little girl he was babysitting?
It’s interesting that when I was growing up kids didn’t have the kinds of behavior problems they have now. I wonder why? It was unheard of. Maybe it’s that society wasn’t as sick as it is now. Something is really wrong, and don’t tell me that some kids just have problems. Something is going on but I can’t exactly say what. I know one thing though, people were normal back then and most people agreed on how things were supposed to be done. I think part of the problem is that liberals second guess everything. Be it the teacher or the parent, the liberal expert always has a better idea. But their ideas stink because they don’t acknowlege God into the equation. So their solution is to drug the kids when their ideas don’t work. Maybe a good old fashioned butt kick would work better, but the liberals wouldn’t allow that.
“At one point Claire appeared in the next room, and James hurled a ball at her, missing. Claire shrieked as if she’d been hit, screaming, “What did you do that for?”
“Wow, I’m scared,” James said. “I’m scared, right, Claire?” He threw the ball at her again, then asked, “Want to have family time?”
I’ve personally seen this in over psychoanalyzed families. The child is acting out, hurting and frightening other people, and the parents are soothing the child with “You are upset” or “You are frightened” or some such twaddle.
I’ve never seen good come from such treatments. That poor child Claire is going to be lucky if she grows up halfway normal.
“Claire, you’re overreacting.”
Oh no she’s not. Her brother needs to be institutionalized. Her parents are incredibly indulgent and ignorant, and the little girl is the one who bears the brunt of it all.
Give me a week with him. Hell a day.
I fear for that little girls life.
What's that they say? It's all about choices. It's the parents that need the help; they've chosen to be bad parents. They've chosen to not discipline their children, prefering instead to shift their responsibilities to the courts and the taxpayers to bear the burden of their social maleficience. Typical libtards.
The earth is bipolar
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.