The Spanking Room (page 2)

stillajwexelder

spanking - I remember some parents give a severe beating

Wow. I'm sorry to hear all this. I guess I was lucky. I was never beaten by my JW mother. She spanked me on occasion, a practice that I, as an adult, do not condone. But it never rose to the level of child abuse. I didn't know of any JW kids in my congregation that were abused that way either. Many children, however, were spanked at meetings. They were usually taken to the bathroom, or the room in the back we called the second school. It is asking a lot for small children to sit still for two hours at a time. I'm sure it would reduce the number of spankings if they created a Sunday school type children's program for the little ones. Sadly, the WT has never been a very kid friendly organization. But physically abusive? Not any more than anywhere else from what I observed.

troubled mind

Back in the early eighties our small hall had over 50 children under the age of five !!!! Those were some interesting times .

Most of the parents were young teen and twenty something parents . I would take my toddler to the second school and let him walk off some energy .That was only until our hall went through a big shake up .Our whole elder body was in trouble over some gossip problem and near by elders were sent in to straighten it all out . Most of the elder body was deleted . Mother sent a Bethel Elder and his wife to set the example for the rest of us .Of course he and his wife pioneered and had NO children .

Under his authority MS were told to escort unruly babies w/moms out of the auditorium .The baby could not even make small gurgles and you would be stared at and hovered over by some MS . Then we were also counsiled not to allow the children to ENJOY time in the back room .It was discipline them and get them back to the seat.We were told to spend time at home making the children sit for extended quiet time so they could get use to it !! Also make them hold it when they had to go to the bathroom so at the hall there would be fewer potty breaks .I never abided by some of their ridiculous rules .
I remember those times being very stressful . Ed Escobar was the Elder and he Knew nothing about raising young children .Years later he moved to another city and had a son ....this poor kid was a mini me of his dad . Why do they want children to be small adults ?

happysunshine

Some reader comments here:

http://www.amazon.com/Spanking-Room-Childs-Jehovah-Witnesses/dp/1579219659

Haven't read it myself, but the outline is a common one. As a fundamentalist evangelical totalist group, physical violence as a form of discipline in certainly encouraged, so there is a higher chance of abuse than the general public. I know when/where I grew up, physical violence as a regular disciplinary tool was not encouraged in the community. But it was in the congregation. It was used regularly with us kids. On one occasion I had moved while being lashed with a belt, and had bright purple marks across my legs for days after, so my parents wrote a note to the school excusing me from gym class, as they were afraid the teacher would get involved. I was told it was all my fault for moving while being beaten.

lancelink

Damn it, I remember taking my kids to the back of the hall, or to the basement and trying my best to get them to be quiet
sometimes really spanking them.

Thank god that they turned out to be really nice kids tho.

When one of them was about ten years old, while getting ready for the Thursday night meeting, he did not want to go and my wife
and I got in the usual "do it or else" mode. he turned around and punched a hole in the wall.

From that night on, we really backed off with the authoritative attitudes and allowed them more freedom .
But we sure caught alot of crap from the elders after that, the elders really made us feel like garbage for
backing off on our kids, not creating little borg drones like they expected.

I heard a great little saying yesterday that really made me think about this:

remember the small things of your life today,
because tomorrow they will have become the larger, more important things.

man, if i could go back and redo those years with my kids from a spiritual aspect,, what i would change would be amazing.

delilah

I noticed countless times at the meetings and conventions that single mothers frequently gave children the worst beatings. I believe that single mothers are under enormous pressure to not only raise children on their own, but they get very little help; if any from anyone at the conventions

I was a single mother, and I can tell you, that I NEVER gave my daughter a beating. EVER!! You may have witnessed other single mom's doing this, but it was not I.... I raised my child alone until she was six, and while it was a bit on the difficult side, I did it on my own, with no help from anyone in the congregation, and I was not an angry nor bitter mom. Assemblies were a bit tough, but it was something I had to do....and did it...I just spent more time in the mother's room..

The worst beating I ever witnessed, was from a father, who needed the elders to intervene and take the child away....it was during a Sunday meeting, and the entire congregation just cried...it was Horrific!!! That little girl suffered terribly until her mother finally got the courage to leave...

I think it has to do with each person individually, and how much self control they (Don't) have....

144001

It is asking a lot for small children to sit still for two hours at a time.

A lot? It is child abuse. Plain and simple. Sit still for two hours at a time or be beaten. That's child abuse, not "asking a lot."

Sadly, the WT has never been a very kid friendly organization. But physically abusive? Not any more than anywhere else from what I observed.

I'm wondering what you're comparing this to? Congregations imposing Sharia law? Sorry to disagree, but I've never seen children more abused in any church than at the kingdom hall.

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