The sadness of Simon Barlow

I've just had a quick trawl through that underbelly of the internet that calls itself Twitter and my word, there's a lot of hatred out there for Simon Barlow.  As we have seen, tonight on Coronation Street Leanne raises her hand to strike Simon as she's at her wits end and doesn't know how to cope.  Simon doesn't deserve to be hit, that's for sure and I'm aghast at the comments online that say he does.

Simon is a hurt little boy, trying his best (and failing) to cope with a life that has been foisted on him. Leanne's a rubbish mum, and she knows it. Peter's a rubbish dad, and we know that too. Next week on Corrie, Leanne will send Simon to live with Ken, but Simon will then turn his anger towards Amy.

So, what's to be done with this troubled little boy?  A bit of understanding wouldn't go amiss.  I have no idea what I would do in this situation if I were Leanne and my kid was hitting me. But it only takes a couple of seconds to Google and find that there are loads of charities offering advice on this very subject.   Leanne's not daft, so why hasn't she reached out for help from her GP as a starter, who would know how to put Leanne in contact with professionals who can help both her and Simon.

As well as being passed from pillar to post between Leanne and Peter, Simon's still trying to cope with the loss of grandma Deirdre and of the men in his life who have tried to be father figures - Kal, Nick. And of course, he'll still be missing his real mum Lucy the florist who died.  This was when a reluctant Peter had to take on the role of dad to Simon, a role that Peter fought against for months and only settled into with the help of Ken, Deirdre and Blanche.  Simon was so timid when he first came to live with the Barlows that Blanche called him 'Shymon'.

Simon has been bullied in the past and ended up drunk after he took one of Peter's bottles.  Simon has ISSUES for heaven's sake.

He does not need hitting. He is a hurt and scared little boy who needs help, and fast.  As does Leanne.

Kudos to Alex Bain who is doing a wonderful job as Simon.


Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.

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