KW13, I don't mean abusive in the sense of blaming JW parents, I simply mean "was it harmful?"
Personally, I know that my mum 100% believed that she was doing the best thing for us kids, and that she still thinks she's helping me by not talking to me now I'm disfellowshipped. I don't hold that against her at all; she doesn't know any better.
What I'm interested in, and it seems apparent from the comments, is whether I'm unique in thinking the upbringing peculiar to JWs is harmful psychologically and developmentally.
I'd like to see some research done on the topic, but I would say these are two big effects, at least based on my own experience and many of those I've talked to:
* Lack of deep friendships at school: Generally, children gravitate to others that have similar interests, etc, and develop friendships that begin at school, but develop deeper from contact outside of school: visiting each other's houses, doing stuff together on the weekend, etc. JW children often gravitate to kids who are not JWs, but are unable to pursue these friendships properly due to the lack of contact outside of school. Some JW kids are fortunate to gravitate naturally to other JW kids, so they can develop close friendships, but that's not always the case.
* Forced social differentiation: Throughout school, JW kids have to sit out during birthdays, Christmas, flag/national anthem displays, etc. A normal part of social development is learning to fit in, and this is especially crucial during adolescence. JW kids, especially if their school friends are largely non-JWs, find this time particularly difficult.
Do you think a JW childhood is abusive?
by Konrad West 66 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
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Konrad West
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OpenFireGlass
* Forced social differentiation: Throughout school, JW kids have to sit out during birthdays, Christmas, flag/national anthem displays, etc. A normal part of social development is learning to fit in, and this is especially crucial during adolescence. JW kids, especially if their school friends are largely non-JWs, find this time particularly difficult.
This really backfired on my parents... cause usually I would be befriended by other social misfits(punks, hippies, metalheads, etc)... they thought it was cool that I didn't salute the flag etc...
come to think of it, Im lucky that I only ended up a cannabis smoker...
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Beep,Beep
Mine wasn't.
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A Paduan
Examine the results - what type of adults are produced ?
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bw1
I would analogize that life as a jw kid is like an episode of the twilight zone. Being sent to school and taught to distance yourself from the other kids/everyone else everything is bullshit. I was constantly hasseled to not lead a 'double life' meaning not to be friends with the other kids. WTF? I only had one parent dragging me to meetings. As a young kid I was hit, as I got older that progressed to mental abuse. If I was misbehaving as a kid my mom would smile at the person in the adjascent row, and then look at me and smile and say your gonna get it when we get home. WTF is that? She was obviously more concerned with what the people in the hall thought than what was best for me. I never swallowed any of the bs being brought down on the stage and through the magazines despite being looked down upon by the entire congregation for not being fucked up like them. I was the only kid my age at the hall that wasnt on stage regularly. Oddly enough my mother wasnt into forcing me to join up for the ministry school. Every other family forced their kids in. All the JW kids that were not allowed to associate with normal (non-JW) people are still in I believe. I wont mention details of the ones that are out except to say that one killed himself so far. Most people would not be impressed with what I had to say about the others. This story is repeated all over. You could say that having that sort of start to life has left me with a chip on my shoulder. Yes the kids are abused, that is the only way to keep them there. I remember sitting through hundreds of hours of that mind numbing shite, listening to the wails of the kids getting thrashed in the washroom. What kind of retard drags their infant/child out til late at night and hits it when it acts its age? How any semi educated person could convert to JW is beyond me.
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bw1
I would analogize that life as a jw kid is like an episode of the twilight zone. Being sent to school and taught to distance yourself from the other kids/everyone else everything is bull***t. I was constantly hasseled to not lead a 'double life' meaning not to be friends with the other kids. WTF? I only had one parent dragging me to meetings. As a young kid I was hit, as I got older that progressed to mental abuse. If I was misbehaving as a kid my mom would smile at the person in the adjascent row, and then look at me and smile and say your gonna get it when we get home. WTF is that? She was obviously more concerned with what the people in the hall thought than what was best for me. I never swallowed any of the bs being brought down on the stage and through the magazines despite being looked down upon by the entire congregation for not being fu***d up like them. I was the only kid my age at the hall that wasnt on stage regularly. Oddly enough my mother wasnt into forcing me to join up for the ministry school. Every other family forced their kids in. All the JW kids that were not allowed to associate with normal (non-JW) people are still in I believe. I wont mention details of the ones that are out except to say that one killed himself so far. Most people would not be impressed with what I had to say about the others. This story is repeated all over. You could say that having that sort of start to life has left me with a chip on my shoulder. Yes the kids are abused, that is the only way to keep them there. I remember sitting through hundreds of hours of that mind numbing s**te, listening to the wails of the kids getting thrashed in the washroom. What kind of retard drags their infant/child out til late at night and hits it when it acts its age? How any semi educated person could convert to JW is beyond me.
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bw1
Sorry for the double post, I clicked submit just as I was reading the posting guidlines. Mod please remove the first post as well as this one.