Faith in action

I honestly have to believe that there must've been some people who would've helped Sylvia if they knew she was being abused. I was reading a review that someone wrote about the movie An American Crime and the person said,..This leaves only one other possibility that comes to mind. The main topic is a girl horribly abused for vague reasons in a town that knows it but refuses to do anything about it (except that some neighbor children take part in the abuse). The family represents nothing and the town’s reaction is noted but not condemned. So we are left only with the prurient. The reason I believe that there had to be someone who would've helped her if they had known this was happening is because I know that I would help her, and I know several other people who would also. My faith has (and has had for centuries) a whole brotherhood of people who are willing to help others. I don't know every single person in the brotherhood of faith, (because there are millions around this whole entire world) but I know that my faith teaches to be good toward all. Whenever we see injustice, we do something about it. We don't just look away and act as if nothing's happening. Even people who don't have the same faith as me feel anger about injustice because it's human nature to hate an injustice such as the one that happened to Sylvia. You should never think that you're too weak or puny to help someone, especially someone who is in great danger like Sylvia was. The least you could do is call for help. Tell someone,.. Anyone.

This was posted on the sylvialikens.com forum and other commenters wrote: I certainly agree. If only a few more had done this for Sylvia, she had not died.

My reply to that person: I agree. Apparently staying out of it wasn't the best choice.

Another comment: With the exception of that brainless Vermillion woman, I also want to believe that if more people knew what was going on, they would have taken some action to save her. But this is what, IMO, make this case very inexplicable. Even if many people weren't aware of the horrible torture Sylvia was going through, some people still knew enough to know that she was in some sort of trouble and still did nothing. Mrs. Duke, Barbara Sanders, Rev Julian and Sylvia's teachers had either been told that Sylvia was being tortured, had run away or noticed that she had been absent from school and still could not be bothered to take any action. As I said before, Barbara Sanders - the school nurse - had been told when she had come around to the Blake house that Sylvia had run away. Why didn't she call the cops? Sylvia was only 16 years-old. Instead, she just filed the case as a "one-time only" visit. The insensitivity that so many people showed in this case is completely incomprehensible. When these people found out what ultimately happened to Sylvia, I wonder how they felt. Did they think, "I could have saved her" or did they find ways to make themselves feel better?

My response: I didn't know it was a school nurse. I thought it was just an office nurse or something. Maybe I sped through the book while reading that part because I don't remember that.

A couple other comments by two different people: 5th commenter wrote: I believe it was a nurse from the marion county health department.mike monroe's mother was the person rumored to have called them.since mike monroe stayed overnight with jimmy ban. on a few occassions, sounds like he told his mom a few things going on at the baniszewski house.sadly he didn't tell her the complete truth, I'm sure he excluded the part about himself hitting Sylvia. come to think about, I don't recall reading that mike monroe was at the baniszewski house after the nurse visit. his mom probably forbid him from going to the house after hearing about a girl there with open sores on her body. if only she knew how those open sores and bruises came to be on Sylvia. Another (What If).

6th commenter wrote: Even if Col. Sanders was not the school nurse, did she ever stop to think that a 16-year-old juvenile had run away (at least that is what she had been told) and that someone should have been notified? Or did she just think, "that's not my problem" and just went about her business? This is child endangerment. After the brainless Vermillion woman, Sanders is the one adult that is most to blame for not trying to save Sylvia. IMO, some corrective action should have been taken against her.

My comment: I agree that the nurse should've pressed the matter further. It's very sad and heart wrenching that no one was there to help her.

Phyllis Vermillion makes me mad the most because she was one of the adults who actually witnessed the abuse. Did she do anything about it though? No, she didn't. She just gave the excuse that she can't judge Gert. Why not? I mean, if it was Phyllis' child that was getting abused, I'm sure that she would judge, not only that, but she wouldn't just watch her child being abused. She would step in and put a stop to it. Although if it's someone else's child she wants to stay out of it because she thinks it's none of her business. Phyllis Vermillion irritates me to no end.