how did we cope as kids?....to feel less freakish?....i think i... (page 2)

Dagney

Wow, good question. Don't think I ever really thought about this.

Looking back at school as a wit seems very surreal to me. I too just tried to blend in. Some just seems so ridiculous to put a child through . I was trained to make my "stand" from the time I was 5 alone. Alone I had to approach teachers and explain why I didn't salute the flag etc. I remember I really didn't understand what I had to memorize. "Worship"? What does a 5 year old know about worshipping anything let alone a flag or a god? I remember the fear and the feeling to this day.

All those times alone in the library during some sort of banned celebration. Feeling really weird. No wonder you just tried to be as normal as possible during the day while living in a cult.

You just keep crazy hidden and try to be as normal as possible, all the while being ingrained that every last one of the people you are around are very soon to be destroyed. Very very soon. Kind of heavy for a kid to process.

<<shiver>>

jaguarbass

My father was not a witness, just a jerk.

I was able to be on the wrestling team, the track team and the gulf team by playing my parents

against each other, I shouldnt have had to but that is how I survived.

I couldnt be on the football team because I had to work for my father putting roofs on houses

in the summer and to be on the football team you had to go to practice the last vacation month of

the summer, August.

I also played guitar. So I was in a band in school. A rock band not a marching band.

IN elementarry school my mother told them I was a witnoid so I had to go sit in the office

for all the holiday celebrations.

When I got into middle school and high school, I never told anybody about my mothers

mental problems.

I still had to go to the meetings while I lived at home. Every Tuesday and Friday night.

We had Friday night meetings back in the 60's. I would tell my friends i had to go out to

dinner with my parents.

In my neighborhood all the kids got together and played baseball, football, basketball or hockey

depending on the season.

The meetings didnt interfere with that and that and music is how I coped and felt less freakish.

But I always knew I was hiding something shameful.

restrangled

Wow Oompa, great thread...

When I was young, I now realize being a JW was considered like being part of cult. I was in this weird religion, hated by the principle, and some teachers. We didn't salute the flag, celebrate holidays etc.

This made the kids in school be extra critical, and the only focus they had was my looks. Anything they could pick on they did.

I was shy,....and had one outstanding feature. It was my lips, they were very full. I was thin, tall, and blond. No developement of the chest to speak of but had full red lips.....I became known as "N" lips to keep it short. Even a few teachers joked about it in Jr. High.

By time I got to Middle school I felt so tortured I could barely cope. I remember arriving to Middle school looking like something out of a religious compound. A Dress to my knees, flat shoes and part of religious nut group. All other girls were wearing cute little minis, and cute little heels.

Did I outgrow all this, yes, but it was extremely destructive to me personally....and tends to stick with me even at almost 50 years old.

penny2

A Dress to my knees, flat shoes and part of religious nut group.

Ditto, restrangled, we could have been sisters (although I don't have the full lips - wish I did).

I was a "full on" JW - did projects on it, gave talks about my beliefs. The pre-1975 madness was in full swing and I was totally sucked in.

oompa

hmmmmm.......shy....thin tall....blond...lips very full..................and in a dress hopefully with no panties underneath...............nice.....i can really picture this............smile.............oompa

ex-nj-jw

The only way they knew I was a JW was when my mom would come and tell the teacher what I could and could not do. I never thought of myself as a JW and never told anyone I was. When the teacher would say, "you can't do such and such, nj go to the office", I'd say but I'm not a JW my parents are.

Most of the time I participated anyway. I always stood for the flag salute said the pledge and stood for the national anthem. I was ratted out several times because I went to school with about 13 dubs but I didn't care. My parents were JW's not me and I made sure everyone knew it.

I spent a great deal of my childhood trying very hard not to be a JW.

nj

civicsi00

I tried different things in order to try to cope with being a JW. It sucked cuz I grew up in a relatively small town and year after year I'd see the same kids and they all mostly knew I was a JW. Some made fun, others didn't care. The ones that made fun of me made me have an even lower self-esteem.

I would take theatre in Junior high and High school. Being someone else always seemed to help a little bit. Then I immersed myself in video games at home.

I don't think I'll ever fully recover, even though I'm out. There's always just a tinge of JWism inside that can be hard to extinguish.

Damn mind control.

dinah

My parents were JW's not me and I made sure everyone knew it.

Why didn't I think of that??

restrangled

Oompa you are such a pistol! But after thinking about this, I wonder how the kids today are doing and what might be said years from now.

We were so deprived of communication with the outside world. Television consisted of 5 channels and most programs were off limits. There was no contact after school, it was all meetings, study and service in our free time. Clothing was bought by our parents, after school activities along with friendships were a no no. In other words, after school let out....we were back under control of religious nuts.

Now there are cell phones, the web, etc. Most parents have computers even if the kids don't, and the kids get how to use them while getting rid of any history even if they don't have thier own.

We were in a "virtual" compound. On the program Big Love, they mentioned the "God Squad"...which made me laugh. It reminded me of the Elders watching out for every little infraction....watching, listening, waiting for reports. Seems no one had anything else to worry about.

I realized I didn't answer how I actually coped......I didn't. I couldn't shake the religious iron yoke, so I started skipping school in my Junior year of high school. I maintained good enough grades, but skipped constantly with a few babysitting dollars in my pocket. It was the only social life I could get. Taking the bus up to the big shopping malls with my friends, which were miles away at the time. Some times we had to hitch hike home, as we had spent too much on Orange Julius drinks, or bought a cute top.

When in 7th and 8th grade, the only thing available for purchase were cute little short skirts, so my mother sewed all my clothes......I learned how to roll my skirts at the waist....anyone remember pulling that stunt? I would wait till I was one block from home and start rolling up, so that by time I got to school I had a cute little skirt on but a strangely fat waist band at the top. Girls were not allowed to wear pants in those days. To this day I hate skirts!

I smoked, and led a double life.....thats how I coped.....I was out of my parents home at 17.

How different my own kids were raised....they hate the JWs, my 22 year old is back at home finishing college....free, loved, and religion free. The 25 year old is on his own... free, loved and also absolutely religion free!...... I couldn't be happier!

r.

beksbks

In school, I sat in the front of the class, as close to the teacher as possible. I stayed in the library at lunch, or volunteered to help my favorite teachers. When I went home, mostly I stayed in my room and read.

You might imagine that when I was a young teen, I went crazy and climbed out the window to party all night. You might be right.

how did we cope as kids?....to feel less freakish?....i think i...

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