Free Nobody's Family is Going to Change by Louise Fitzhugh Page A

existence of the Children’s Army. At all times, whenever confronted, each member of this Army must and will say that he or she is only acting out of personal feeling and friendship for the child involved.
    â€œThe third committee will go to the house of Lois Babson. Lois is the two-year-old sister of one of our army. The parents of this two-year-old have bought a device which rings a terrible clanging bell every time the child wets the bed. Her sister feels and this committee concurs that this is no way to toilet-train somebody, that with sympathy and patience Lois will learn to be toilet-trained, and that this barbaric arrangement should stop immediately. The committee will approach Mr. and Mrs. Babson, tell them that they are confiscating the instrument, and why. They will inform the Babsons that they will take said instrument back to the store, get a refund, and return the money to the Babsons.
    â€œNext Friday we will send out three new committees. Each brigade must get complaints from its members and submit them. All complaints are processed as fast as possible.Anyone registering a complaint should understand that the committee acting on the complaint will use all restraint, so that the parents of the complainer do not turn against him or her. The committee members are never rude, never violent, always logical, always speak quietly, and always have a back-up adult who can be brought in at the last moment to embarrass the parents into listening. It will always appear that the committee is just a group of personal friends acting on the behalf of the complainer. We will have Report now on the three committees that went out last week.” He paused dramatically. “J. Colson reporting on Committee 1.”
    J. Colson was a large, blond girl. Her hair kept getting in her eyes as she read the short report.
    â€œCommittee 1 went to the home of Jack Kelly, whose complaint was brought to us by his younger brother, Tom Kelly, a member. Complaint was as follows: that Jack Kelly, blind since an accident in the home when he was eight, now sixteen years old, was being kept home as a servant by his father, a drunkard. Jack Kelly is made to cook all the meals, do all the cleaning, and is not allowed to go to school. Jack Kelly wants to go to school. The committee was large because of the drunkenness of the father. They took with them an official of the Lighthouse for the blind, the mother of one of our members. Report of the committee is that Jack Kelly is now in a school for the blind, learning Braille, and he plans to attend college.
    â€œMr. Kelly has been reported to the police four times for drunkenness. He does not know who is reporting him, buthe has had to change his habits somewhat. He will never be a good father, in the opinion of this committee, but he is nervous now to think that his sons have friends who can bring people into the house to embarrass him. He was mortified by the adult who went with us. He said he had always wanted Jack to go to school, an out-and-out lie, and that he certainly would comply. As we all know, none of this is important. What is important is that Jack Kelly is no longer a slave.”
    A great roar of applause went up. “Reporting on Committee 2 is Harvey Allen,” said Harrison Carter when the applause had been silenced by his clacking the two pieces of wood together.
    Harvey Allen was a fat, boneless sort of fellow wearing a Norwegian sweater.
    â€œCommittee 2 went to the home of Mary Ann Boniface, one of our members. Mary Ann has been subjected to the advances of an exchange student from Italy who is living in the home for a year, while Mary Ann’s brother lives in Italy. Mary Ann is fifteen. She has told her parents that the boy has tried to rape her four times and that when she comes home from school she has to fight him off. The father, who likes to have the boy around, will not listen, and the mother, who likes the boy to help with the chores, will not listen.