A sad situation

Oct 21, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor,
So sad about 10-year-old Richardo, who disappeared from his home.  He seems an alert, pleasant child, and one hopes he is found soon and no harm befalls him.
No child runs away from a happy home, and when a child does, seeks the shelter and protection of a mother figure, to whom he complains of being beaten “on his knee with a pressure cooker cover” and is told by that person that he would be “turned over to the police to have him returned home”, the logical thing for the child to do is to run away again and keep running.
Adults experiencing an unhappy home environment tend to spend as little time as possible in that home and eventually move away, circumstances permitting. Young children in similar circumstances need the care and protection of adults.
Richardo’s mother probably has personal problems, is stressed, probably takes her frustrations out on the children and is in need of serious help.
Since he is the eldest of her children, he is probably feeling ‘the pinch’ more than the others.
Theirs might be a suitable case for the attention of Social Services.  Let us hope they get it soon and poor Richardo is found safe and well.
Geralda Dennison

Editor’s note: Richardo has been found. He went to a man’s home with an untruth about his situation.