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Child Abuse At The Dursleys!, Why did nobody do something? |
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  Mar 9 2006, 12:33 PM
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Perusing the Magical Menagerie
Posts: 97
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Location: The Netherlands
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I started to read book 1 for the 100th time yesterday, and again I was detested by the way Harry was treated by his foster-parents. Maeby even more, because I have 2 children of my one now. And I realy wondered why nobody did something. I'am not from England (hence my spelling), but I imagine that in England there are social workers. Did none of Harry's muggle-teatchers saw the difference between Dudley and Harry? The toys, the clothes, everything? Did none of them asked any questions about it? And if they did, I would think Petunia very embarressed. Even if she didn't care for Harry, she did care for what her neighbours thought. And they must have been talking. Why did they abuse Harry so in public. Give him a very little icecream and stuff like that. And why did no authority interfere? 
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I am so sorry, my English is so bad!
"Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your connections?" Fitzwilliam Darcy
"To Parry Otter, the Chosen Boy. Who - well - something of that sort."
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Mar 10 2006, 09:02 PM
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Official Singer of the Sorting Hat Song
Posts: 6,422
Joined: 3:12pm July 22, 2005
Location: Lost in Hermione's beaded bag
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Well, what the Dursley's do is morally reprehensible, but it isn't child abuse as defined by law. Harry is fed and clothed, given a bed to sleep in, and sent to school. It is true he is not loved and shown no encouragement. If one wants to argue a case for mental cruelty or verbal abuse, well, to what end? To have Harry removed and placed in a foster home? There's a very mixed track record when it comes to state intervention.
Who has not witnessed bad parenting going on? When does one intercede? The one time I ticked off a father for being negligent I was left shaking. The father had propped a one year old on a bench, no babyseat or anything, while he bought a train ticket and told his four year old to watch the baby. The baby, of course, fell. I saw it happen and was very upset. But what had me intervene was that the father rushed back and blamed the four year old! As I scolded the man, I was upset even more by the pathetic look in his eyes. He listened to me silently. I am sure he was overwhelmed by his responsibilties, which I doubt he had to perform very often. But I wouldn't call it abuse, just incompetence.
I don't see that anything could have been done to save Harry from the Dursley's. If we made that kind of abuse a crime, half the children in the country would be in foster care. And if the foster parents were abusive, where do we place the child then?
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Come the words that bubble
Up through broken laughter,
Sweeter than spring-water,
"Gods, I am so happy!"
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Mar 10 2006, 09:06 PM
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Stocking Snitches at Quality Quidditch Supplies
Posts: 665
Joined: 11:32am June 4, 2005
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QUOTE(davidenglish @ Mar 10 2006, 09:02 PM) [snapback]739469[/snapback]
Well, what the Dursley's do is morally reprehensible, but it isn't child abuse as defined by law. Harry is fed and clothed, given a bed to sleep in, and sent to school. It is true he is not loved and shown no encouragement. If one wants to argue a case for mental cruelty or verbal abuse, well, to what end? To have Harry removed and placed in a foster home? There's a very mixed track record when it comes to state intervention.
Who has not witnessed bad parenting going on? When does one intercede? The one time I ticked off a father for being negligent I was left shaking. The father had propped a one year old on a bench, no babyseat or anything, while he bought a train ticket and told his four year old to watch the baby. The baby, of course, fell. I saw it happen and was very upset. But what had me intervene was that the father rushed back and blamed the four year old! As I scolded the man, I was upset even more by the pathetic look in his eyes. He listened to me silently. I am sure he was overwhelmed by his responsibilties, which I doubt he had to perform very often. But I wouldn't call it abuse, just incompetence.
I don't see that anything could have been done to save Harry from the Dursley's. If we made that kind of abuse a crime, half the children in the country would be in foster care. And if the foster parents were abusive, where do we place the child then?
Parents in our jurisdiction have been charged and convicted for forcing a child to sleep in a cupboard, such as Harry lived in under the stairs. Locking him away in his room with bars on the windows and sliding food under the door goes beyond most cases I read about in the news.
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"Haven't you noticed, Professor, how the people Snape hates tend to end up dead?"
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Mar 11 2006, 11:07 PM
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Getting Fitted for New Dress Robes
Posts: 51
Joined: 7:15pm February 8, 2006
Location: Somewhere Where Only I Know. (OK I'll tell You: I am where there are lots and lots of bagels!)
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Well, yes Harry was fed but barely. And no, for a while Harry did not have a bed, just a poor mattress in a closet. He was locked many times inside it for no good reason and if he tried to leave, even for food!, he was punished again. The reason I consider it abuse is because they knowingly and purposefully did those things to Harry, not because they were incompetent. They did it because they hated him. (and incidently being incompentent may not be abuse but it is cause, in certain cases, to have a child removed from the parents care. You know, such as neglect. Neglect is just as bad as abuse.) And that's just the physical things they did wrong! There was also of course, mental and emotional.
I wondered how the Dursleys got away with it? I guess it is because Harry said nothing and there weren't really any physical markings on him. And of course sometimes bad things just happen and the bad guys never get caught.
Though I do think Uncle Vernon did at least slap Harry around a bit. Why else would he have 'learned to stay out of Uncle Vernon's reach when angry'?
But still...
This post has been edited by QueenFergie: Mar 11 2006, 11:12 PM
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I am currently suffering from a debilitating illness known as adolescence. We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality  (I really got about 115. Bad spelling.) |
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Mar 12 2006, 08:11 PM
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Leaky's Resident Bibliophile
Posts: 8,279
Joined: 5:01pm April 18, 2005
Location: Finding Neverland.
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QUOTE(Arianhrod @ Mar 9 2006, 05:43 PM) [snapback]738086[/snapback]
Actually, what was done to Dudley is child abuse as well. To allow a child their every whim and abdicate your parental responsibility because you're afraid to tell your own child "no" is simply appalling. In addition, Dudley's obesity could be considered a form of child abuse as well.
So they were both abused. And IMO nobody did anything because they didn't have visible bruises--and no one wanted to get involved.
I have to agree. In the long run, Dudley is going to turn out worse. Harry has learned how to grow from the years he's suffered at the Dursleys. I think he has become a better person because of it. But Dudley, never knowing that what he did was wrong, will get a major wakeup call once he enters the real world. He won't know what has hit him. Harry at least has the ability to cope with what is thrown at him and has a taste of what reality can really bring. But since Dudley has basically been sheltered his whole life... it'll be interesting to see how he turns out.
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"I know who Harry Potter is. I just don't know who the other two are. Himmie and Roland?"
"No, Grandma, Ron and Hermione."
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