My heart is aching!

by Aunty 7 Replies latest jw friends

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  Aunty

  Hi All - I was just reading the responses to the post on beating children in the washroom and my heart is aching remembering what it was like. I literally have this hollow feeling in my heart right now remembering all the little children that were punished, and those who are still in, but have no way of knowing how different life can be. You trust your parents to love and take care of you - and then they hit you - but you don't think, "hey they shouldn't do that" - you think, "I'm bad". It just makes me want to cry. Now, I do know that there are parents outside of the jw's that do spank/beat their children, but to encourage this behavior is just horrible.

  Anyway, my point in posting separately was to mention that if you do contact social services about a certain family, they will investigate (at least they do in the US). Even if this is a simple phone call to their office reporting what you've observed. They will at least interview the parents and the children separately and determine if they should do anything. Maybe this would be a wake-up call if suddenly several families in each cong were being reviewed.

  I'm not about retaliation - my own life in the jw's and coming out hasn't been bad - just a though I wanted to share. (I called on my neighbors once since they were always hitting their 1 1/2 yr old baby) People are sick!!
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  dungbeetle

  (((((((((((( Aunty )))))))))))

  UADNA-US (Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America-United States)
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  writerpen

  Where was the original post about beating children in wash room? I would like to read that. Thanks!
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  bitter mango

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.asp?id=24344&site=3#311845

  (¯`·.¸the agents of oblivion descend upon the sane¸.·´¯)
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  Aunty

  Thanks DB

  I'm grateful everyday that I made it out!
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  writerpen

  Just read the comments from the "beating children in washroom" post. Thanks bitter mango for directing me to the right post. Everytime I think about this, I just want shoot em' all. My brother and I were beat often and I can't even begin to count the number of wooden spoons I saw in the KH as a child and even prior to leaving at the age of 29. I hate em' all - especially the parents!
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  nativenyr23

  Wow. just read the "beating children in washroom" post too. My God, i hadn't thought about those days in so long. I remember as a child several parents mentioning a "joke about sister so-n-so taking her screaming child back to the bathroom and the child screaming "jehovah, save me!" They thought that was soooo cute. I can't tell you the times i was taken and spanked....some kids got slapped in the face. Then the moms would chat in the bathroom until we kids "calmed down".

  I too, as an adult, am guilty of following this rediculous trend. When my son (who is now 13) was less than a year old, my god,,,, i remember taking him to the bathroom and spanking him to be quiet! He wasn't even 1 yet! But i thought i was doing what i was expected to do.....Thinking back, i'm wracked with guilt thinking WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING?? how can one expect children (with their short attention spans) to possibly sit still during meetings so boring ADULTS can barely stand still for!? I thank god i quit,,,,and finally saw the light. My son doesn't remember any of this fortunately as I left the ORG shortly after he was 2 yrs. old. All i can do is pray for forgiveness for this form of abuse I so easily administered thinking it was "good christian parenting."
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  pamkw

  That is one of the biggest things in my life I regret. When I was a young single mother (about 21), I would be counciled by elders after the meeting because I didn't spank my son. I felt like such a bad parent. So I started spanking him, wanting him and me to be perfect jws. We were both miserable. He is 18 now, and a couple of years ago, I told him how sorry I was for being such a mean mother to him. I begged his forgivness. He said, I know you were just trying to show you loved me. That made me cry. I was such a jerk. Even my jw mother said I was mean when he was younger. Of course at the time, her advise was do what the elders say. Now I am smarter, and wiser. My youngest son has many emotional disabilities (ADHD, and ODD), I am so glad I no longer believe that you have to beat you kids to get results. I am also no longer a jw, that makes our lifes so much better.