Kids and meetings (page 4)

dustyb

when me and my friend was little and went to meetings (like 5 and 6 years old) we used to always either sleep or just try to draw. i remember that we'd always get one of those liquid ink pens and color a whole piece of paper and waste all of the ink. my friends mom always got mad =D but what i hated was when our moms would pinch our necks or something from falling asleep. i'm sorry ma, but it is harder than hell to stay awake through a session of BS.

Lost Diamond

I would just bring Cheerios in a baggie or a small Tupperware tub and their sippie cups...kept them entertained and it did the trick. I didn't care what everybody else thought about letting them eat during the meetings. They actually did pretty good during the meetings..

L_A_Big_Dawg

Good point Euphemism. I have forgotten a lot since being out for 13-plus years. However, one other thing came to mind as I read your post. That is, rooms. My ex had four different age groups to plan for, not not mention a nursery. So there would be a need for five rooms to be constructed. Even if all the labor is donated, there would be engineering, architectural, and material costs. Again, it comes down to money.

L_A_Big_Dawg

However, on the cynical side...since most of the JW children are not baptized think of all the hours one could get by teaching them during meeting times, not to mention bible studies one could count at the end of the month.

AlanB

This buisness of treating babies like they are supposed to act like adults is messed up.

All it did with me was teach me to effectively switch off at meetings. Kids have a tremendous imagination and can slip into another dream world when bored. The amount of time I would actually listen to the program even as an adult was minimal.

Interesting though that I knew all the answers, which had subliminaly been drip fed into my mind. When I was having 'problems' an elder tried to 'help' me and we would go through various publications. I knew all the answers which stumped him a little.

Eventually I came to the conclusion that the 'answers' that I knew meant nothing to me, I remember the last time I attended a meeting was a circuit assembly, half way through the morning session I remember thinking "This means nothing to me". I slipped out at lunchtime, went into the town and bought a travel ticket and spent a few days packpacking around Europe to clear my head. Never went back.

A

AlanB

Furthermore, the articles pointed out that arrangements for such separate classes were actually detracting from the house-to-house preaching of the good news. How so? Because the teachers were staying out of the field service to prepare for these classes and to conduct them. So, all separate classes for youths were discontinued.

That could have been so good..... What better way to spend time than preparing to teach young ones in a more effective manner. Many other religions have Sunday schools, summer camps and all sorts of activities that could make Christianity a joy.

I wonder how these policies may have affected the large number of younger ones that leave.

Dawn

Many other religions have Sunday schools, summer camps and all sorts of activities that could make Christianity a joy.

Exactly!! I work with a children's music camp group at my church and I absolutely love it.

I think the real problem is that the organization does not value children. But they are so missing out. Jesus said that if someone wanted to be part of his kingdom he should become like a child - what better way to understand that message than to spend time teaching, protecting, and supporting children?!

And all these stories I read on here about people forcing other people's children to "behave" - man............they care more about their kids being quiet than they do about protecting them!

Latte

IwasDuped

My blood boils just thinking about this particular subject...It was one of the things that got me thinking....Hmmmmm.........something seems to be very wrong here!!!

Me too! Seeing the little kids being dragged out late on a midweek meeting night, made me so frustrated. My kids always came to the meetings armed with pillows to sleep on?and any soft toys they wanted. Having my own children really brought it all home to me just what was going on regarding the little ones.

We left?..and it is one one of the best thing?s we?ve ever done!

To Active JW Parents

You are damaging your kids by taking them to meeting?s. You are holding them back in life. You are setting them up in life to have few friends - after all there really aren?t many left in the KH. People are leaving!!! My own kids now have lot?s of lovely friends - they had NONE whilst we attended. (I?m dead serious about this)

franklin J

I remember being slapped as a child for not sitting still and paying attention.

When I was very young I was allowed to draw with pencils on paper, however when I was about 8 or 9 these were taken away and I was "expected" to follow the meetings.

2 hours is MUCH too long to expect a child to sit, by todays standards anyway, much less follow all that boring Bible jibberish from the flatulant "brothers" on the platform. Most times, I sat there and "did nothing",

However, the tree grows according to the way it is bent. I was rewarded early on for "participating" in the meetings. Commenting and participation were very encouraged in my family.

wannaexit

I got yelled all the time.

My husband got a lot of smacks .

With my child I let him bring what ever he wanted . I also took him out of the meetings a lot on small breaks.

wannaexit

Kids and meetings

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