by Smoldering Wick 44 Replies latest jw friends
I was bullied once by a classmate because of negative comments they heard at home by their parents. I had the crap beat out of me (the only time). The bully was expelled from school.
I had more problems with teachers but the school system backed me up every time. Once my fellow students even staged a sit-in (that tells you how old I am) because of bad behavior by a teacher.
JW or not there are bullies wherever you go in this life and they can find any excuse to justify their behavior.
Blondie
Reaching 'breaking point' and punching one of the bullies before throwing him head-first against the blackboard (in the middle of a lesson!) did put a stop to it. Who says violence never works?
The saying (as I remember it) is, "violence never solved anything", well, of course it does and here's proof! Way to go Simon!
Ya, I got bullied a lot too. I got in tons of fights, and loved every one of them. Violence might not solve a problem, but it makes you feel better.
Ciara
I sucked royally at fighting. I was so slow with my punches so I got my ass wooped every time. So embarrassing God, looking back on it I think to myself, "No wonder I was bullied. I was a fag." Still am really.
When I was a kid in primary school (USA), I was bullied by fellow JW-kids that hated me, because I was trying to follow at that time, what I though the Bible taught (actually, it was what the Watchtower taught, but I didn?t know the difference at the time!) Their fathers were of course, ?elders!?
Hey not all elders kids are terrible people. I'm one. We're just the worse double life havers for some reason.
One thing I have noticed is that generally, parents who went through school as JWs are not so 'zealous' in making their kids out as the people who have been converted as adults. -Simon
Simon,
That's so true. My son is 19 now...and went to most of the same schools I did. I didn't have the heart to pressure him into standing up for his JW beliefs. Early in grade school, I did go to his teachers and "discuss" the School Brochure and made sure they knew what he could and could not do. I would pick him up and take him to McDonald's, the zoo or park... if the class was celebrating Christmas or whatever...I made sure to do something fun (the other classmates were actually jealous lol)
My son handled school very well. It was the JW kids who bullied him. After the meetings they would torment him in the parking lot..hitting, kicking, poking with sticks, making fun. (I didn't know they were doing this til later). One time at a sister's house her kids tied him to a fence and told him to bark like a dog. You can imagine my horror when I looked out the window to check on him!
At present, he's 6'2' and 320 lbs...they'd think twice before messing with him now lol. (I think his decision to lift weights and become a defensive linebacker had something to do with him being bullied).
This discrimination has not escaped the notice of the United Nations. The following is an excerpt from a report on Human Rights issues in Greece, 1996:
94. The account of the situation of the Catholics and Protestants applies to
the Jehovah's Witnesses as well, but their situation seems to be worse. Apart
from the information given above concerning religious education,
non-governmental representatives have reported that Jehovah's Witness children
who refuse to take part in events contrary to their religious beliefs,
including national holidays and public parades organized in the schools, have
been punished and even expelled. For example, in petition No. 21787/93,
Elias, Maria and Victoria Valsamis versus Greece, report of the European
Commission of Human Rights, the Commission found that there had been a
violation of religious freedom in the case of a Jehovah's Witness pupil
suspended from school for a day by the principal because she had not
participated in the school parade to mark the national holiday.
95. At times, young Jehovah's Witnesses are allegedly victims of incidents
of religious intolerance, such as verbal insults and physical attacks, by
Orthodox pupils influenced by their teachers.
96. Lastly, it seems that school textbooks continue to disseminate a
negative image of the Jehovah's Witnesses, despite the efforts made in the
case of other religions.
http://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/51/plenary/a51-542add1.htm
All the more reason for not getting involved in the first place....
FF
One thing I have noticed is that generally, parents who went through school as JWs are not so 'zealous' in making their kids out as the people who have been converted as adults.
I noticed that too. Second or third generation JWs are generally more quiet about their beliefs than families like mine, where my parents converted while I was in elementary school. Being the eldest child, I got the brunt of it at school. I even had a teacher Persecute? me: I was doing as I was told to do - not rising for the National Anthem, just sitting respectfully in the assembly - and one of the teachers (who hated JWs) grabbed me by the hair at the nape of my neck and pulled me to my feet, and held me standing like that until the music was over. My parents did nothing about it, except tell me that I was being Persecuted? for being a JW. If a teacher ever did that to one of my kids for any reason, I'd be in the Principal's Office so fast, and I would make certain that teacher's job would be on the line. I would have the police there and charge the teacher with assault.
That's one thing I think I still hold against my parents: their oh-well-we-are-supposed-to-be-persecuted-like-Jesus-was-and-you-should-be-happy-about-it attitude. They allowed that damn cult to stop them from doing their job of protecting their kids from harm.
Love, Scully
