My friend has been on the look out since then hoping to see the JW somewhere around.
lol
I hated the slapping sounds of the kids getting hit all the time by their parents, for not sitting still for 2 hours. Once there was a talk about it and I was relieved as I thought they were going to tell them off for going overboard.
The elder began his talk with the slant of going against hitting, but then he did a turnaround halfway though by using the scripture about disciplining with the rod and said how its okay to hit your child and should be encouraged for their benefit.
I'm not sure but I think its against the law (uk) to hit your child if it leaves a mark?
My friend would hit her 5 year old very often and I think it taught him that if you are cross with someone then you hit them. He was a very angry and violent little boy, always getting into trouble at school for randomly punching the other kids. Once he punched me very hard in the stomach, I was so mad I almost throttled him. (more violence!).
My friend attracted a lot of attention. During the meeting, if she got annoyed with her child, she would shoot straight up from her seat and point to the back of the hall with a fierce look on her face. Her son would be beetroot red and cower on his chair. She would continue to stand there pointing until he moved. It was so embarrasing!
When he reluctantly got up from his chair, she would snatch him by his arm and drag him outside, he would be screaming by this point. After a while he would come back in, all sweaty and stressed with a tear stained face. He really seemed to go through a lot.
One of the worst things was even when he was off school due to illness, he still got dragged out on the field service. :(