By Larry J. West

    The Forgotten Victims

He didn’t seem to have many friends—except a few other losers just like him. Many of them had the same background and resulting problems that he had. No one seemed to like him. He did poorly in school during those far-spaced times he went. He felt that the teacher was always down on him. He saw no reason to even try. He was truant and skipped school more times than he went. Most of the neighbors watched him closely as if they didn’t know what he might do next. He saw them whispering and talking softly after he had gone by—thinking that he couldn’t hear them. They warned their children not to play with him, not to talk to him, and to stay as far away from him as possible. Those times when he went to school and the kids chose teams at recess, no one wanted him on their team. Many times he went off a little ways and played by himself. He was the only kid on the bus that no one would sit by. While the others laughed and talked about playing together when they got home, he fought back his tears so no one would see him cry and have something else to tease him about. “Cry Baby, Cry Baby!” His clothes looked like they had been bought at the Goodwill Store. And, they had! The laces in his shoes had several knots in them where they had been tied back together after they broke. The shoes were always scuffed and awful looking. His mother was working two low-paying jobs and couldn’t afford any luxuries. His brother and sisters were going through the same things. Many days they had nothing more than bread and margarine to eat. On a rare occasion, a little bowl of beans.

He felt like a reject, a weirdo, way down deep inside. Sometimes—oftentimes—at night he would cry silently. His heart felt heavy and ached most of the time. Seldom was there anything to laugh about or even smile.

What brought about this sad situation? This little boy’s father is in prison! This boy is also a victim—an often forgotten victim. He will bear the scars of the consequences of his father’s wrong doing all of his life. The wife is also a victim and the other children as well. Society itself is a victim. There is no such thing as a victimless crime!

This little boy, and his brother and sisters, are much more likely to become lawbreakers and criminals themselves. They feel that society, US, has cast them out, has looked down upon them, has despised and hated and rejected them, has deprived them of an opportunity. This so often motivates a feeling of anger and hostility toward those who are responsible, US.

Friends, let us never forget: “…The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son:…” (Ezekiel 18:20).

It takes us a long time to forget the victims of a crime. It rests heavily upon our emotions. May we never forget The Forgotten Victims!