"The Kid"

Yesterday we sat down to watch an evening film and we had chosen "The Kid" which is based on a true story by Kevin Lewis. It was first published in book form as an autobiographical documentation of his life growing up within an abusive and violent family in the 1980s on a London council estate. His mother was very abusive and his dad was an alcoholic, i think in total he had about 5/6 siblings, of which he took all the violent attacks,starvation and mental abuse. He was also bullied at school and taken advantage off in early adult life. Kevin Lewis didn't keep his name anomynous as i think he felt he needed to share his horrific past to inform and warn others. Here i found a short video on the real Kevin Lewis speaking out about the impact the film has had, and how he went about producing it.

This film was very shockingly violent,and quite upsetting with my mum having to leave the room why the film played, as it was very disturbing and when you watch it you just can't even comprehend or even imagine that these events that were being portrayed could happen,but to your shock at the end Kevin Lewis is speaking out on This Morning about it, and your heart really goes out to him. What makes it interesting for me is the way people lived and behaved growing up in the 1980s. As i grew up in the late 90s and 00s it was very different, today all of the kids would be taken from the family whereas it was only Kevin who was taken away from the family home. Kids are much more protected now it seems, Kevins cries for help at school seemed to go unacknowledged where a social care supporter who worked at the school seemed to sweep the issue under the carpet believing that Kevin would ultimatley be lying and chosing to take the parents word over his. When confronting his mother about the bruises, she made up a story and because Kevin was scared of his situation he would agree and that would be the end of problem resolving. He was ultimately let down and ignoed by the social services. 

 His siblings didn't seem to get abused like Kevin did, but they were very much aware of the situation where their parents would physically beat each other up in front of one another, and would violently attack Kevin in front of them including a few months year old baby.

Kevin throughout his life has only known a world of violence getting caught up in boxing and dangerous gangs who robbed him out of alot of money leaving him bankrupt,homeless and feeling worthless resulting in a an attempt of suicide. He took beatings so that these gangs could make money out of his mis-fortune.

Luckily his siblings were there for him and he managed to get his life back on track and finally found the strength to fight back and declare his feelings for his present partner and his new family. I am so glad that Kevin Lewis found the determination and strength inside him to do better,he got back all the money he was owed and not one penny over, and started a new life with his wife,Jackie and his child.

The Kid Trailer:

It was a real eye opener and i feel very grateful to come from a loving family, but my heart goes out too all those who aren't as fortunate. I would love to be part of something that could help so many people,but the problems are forever occuring and it is very sad to think that a lot of children right now are hurting and in pain. Hopefully Kevin Lewis' story can help many people to overcome these horrific circumstances.