BHC Book Club: The Glass Castle

On February 15th, the BHC Book Club met to act as social workers in the case of the four Walls children, as described in Jeannette Walls' memoir, The Glass Castle. Most of us agreed that the children should have been removed from a home where they were not properly clothed or fed, and where the parents did not take action to protect their kids. But at least one person felt that the bond between the children was so strong that it shouldn't have been broken up by separating them, and that foster care is no great bargain either.

From there we looked at what kind of family problems should lead to a child's removal from home or other interventions. We agreed on physical abuse and neglect but what is emotional neglect, exactly? That wasn't so clear.

Sheila also asked about weird names. I felt that the authorities were justified in removing a child whose parents named him Adolf Hitler. I just can't see putting a name like that on an innocent child who is going to suffer terribly as a result. The counter argument was that in order to prevent something like that we'd have to have a list of approved names and only allow children to have a name that is on the list. I didn't think of it at the time, but I'm sure these people couldn't have gotten a vanity license plate that said "Adolf Hitler," so why should they be allowed to name a child that way?

I couldn't think of other reasons for removing children from the home, but one point Sheila brought up was that there are people who would want a child removed from an atheist home, because the child's soul would be in danger. Good thing we have the First Amendment, but even so, I suppose that's something we'd have to watch out for.

Sheila provided a delicious and varied spread and we had some extras, such as an apple and bean salad, and delicious egg salad sandwiches. Our next book will be Michael Lavigne's Not Me.

Kudos, Sheila, for another great book discussion!