by franklin J 39 Replies latest jw friends
I atttended 5 different elementary schools in 8 years.
If I had a dollar for every time I had to explain to a teacher or school mate about the National Anthem, The Lords's Prayer, Valentine's Day, Easter, Rememberance Day, etc....school sports, oh and of course hot dogs, I'd be a rich man.
franklin
My parents became JWs when I was 8 years old. So up until Grade 2, everything was ok to do, then suddenly in Grade 3, everything was not ok to do.
My parents really don't have a clue as to how difficult it was for my brothers and me growing up, always having to be different from my classmates and "making a stand for The Truth?" almost every single stinking day. Having to be excused from class every morning because we weren't allowed to participate in the morning exercises of singing "O Canada" and saying the Lord's Prayer. Starting in Grade 4, one of the teachers would yank me to my feet by the hair at the nape of my neck at the beginning of assemblies every Friday morning, because she wouldn't allow us JW kids to wait outside the auditorium quietly while they sang "O Canada". I told my parents about it, and they never intervened. They just said it was Persecution? and that it was something we had to expect because we were In The Truth?.
My mom was/is a homemaker. She never faced those issues. My dad never had those kinds of issues at work - you just never discussed religion in the workplace. The kids, though, had to go through hell at school. Abused by teachers, bullied by classmates. For The Sake of The Kingdom?.
In Grade 3 the teacher would dump your desk if you didn't do what you were told. Because I wasn't allowed to participate in morning exercises, she dumped my desk every single day. Every single day at recess, I got teased for it by classmates. For The Sake of The Kingdom?.
I am so glad that my kids will never have to do anything For The Sake of The Kingdom?.
Love, Scully
I recall the hard time I had as a child, which I directly hold the JW teachings responsible for. I ache for the small impressionable child I was, having to be taught that " all these bad kids will be gone at armagedon". You are different because you are " a servant of Jehovah" A terrible concept for a child to have to contemplate.
Exactly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! very well put, I had the exact same experience, probaly the main reason I choose NOT to have children.
I wonder how many JW's feel, "I don't want to bring my kids up the way I was brought up" !!!!!!!!!!!!
Gee Scully,,
Our childhoods in Canadian school seem so similar..
Franklin...
I hated school because of being made to be a J.W.. and true my mother never faced any of this she just wrote little notes back and forth to the teacher..saying I couldn't do this and I couldn't do that. But there were so many predjudiced teachers against the Jehovah's Witnesses.
I remember watching a teacher pick my little brother up and just SHAKE HIM to stand up for O'Canada and he didn't want the wrath of mom and Dad, so the teacher kept ripping the little guy out of his seat and shaking him to attention again.
School was a NIGHT MARE !!!!
Same issues, same crappy treatment from teachers, and classmates.
I think I was just 4-5yrs old... when the boom fell and SANTA got BAD !!! and BIRTHDAYS got gone..and all that was left in our house and at school ..was pain, violence and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
PAIN !!!
Wow, I guess this subject hit a nerve with me..
sincerely
Special K
I remember it all too well. No holidays, having to explain it all when I didn't understand it completely, and one of the worst...... going out in service in my own neighborhood, or my schools neighborhood.
For all of you who have been deprived of christmas all your life I want to help...You can send me a gift this year...I know, I know it's a sacrafice on my part but anything to help.
School sucked for me also...I was always the only JW child in every school I went to until high school...Then in high school a fellow dub introduced me to pot...that's a another topic.
Yes, the memories are extremely painful when recalling those days before the tower.
Fortunately, I was able to get my hands on some precious photos from back then; in the 60's. They are all that is left of my childhood. I'm so glad I have them. My mom was a beautiful woman. Years of the tower have sadly made her not so appealing anymore; inside and out.
sKally
The fondest of all the xmas mems were the POPCORN BALLS. We made them of all the colors that were in the box. And we would string them up too. That smell still lingers in my nose and my soul.
I remember too, the strawberry ice cream cake great grandma made each xmas along with her wonderful leg of lamb.
I remember one xmas I got up real early in morning while it was still dark and standing in hallway where the furnace was. It was just enough space to peek through the furnace shelves on the wall and watch her set up all the presents. (in tears as i recall such precious family memories; for me they were precious...not sure about my siblings) That was the year I got the organ and my Drowsey doll. I ran away once with that doll. haha, as tears drop on the table
Great thread!!
sKally
I became a witness @ the age of 2. We lived in a very small town of only about 3000. We were the ONLY witness children. We had to go in FS Xmas mornings. And I'd see all my schoolmates. I got the door slammed in my face so much, I'd cry all the way home. I wanted to play ball so badly. But, no sports for us.
Nosferato--I can sympathize. We had to wear hand me down clothes from one of the sisters in another congregation about 20 miles away. They were so out of date and old. My sister and I got picked on so much. Spit at. Called names. I remember sitting out in the hall when someone had a B-day party. But, I only had to endure it till 10th grade, when Mom decided Armagaddon was coming and so yanked us out. Whew...I was soooooo lucky, wasn't I?
April
I always had to go sit in the library when there were birthday or holiday parties at school
And yes.....going out in fs in your own school neighborhood was the WORST! Truthfully though - while I remember it all and remember how akward it was - I don't really feel pain over it. In my line of work I have seen extreme child abuse cases that make my childhood look like an Ozzie and Harriet episode.
Christmas is my favorite time of year because I can see all of the holiday's magic through the eyes of my little girl - I remember how it was to be left out, but instead of being sad I am embraced with the joy of what I have now. Life is good - just keep looking forward.
