The meetings are long and boring, even for adults. I'm sure the Governing Body even finds it hard to sit through the meetings. There is absolutely nothing of interest to children.But they are expected to sit quietly, at the very least, for two hours. And if they are a little older, to follow along.
I remember hearing a story that when I was a baby I was making a disturbance at the meeting and so my father took me out back and spanked me. I think from a very early age I was scared into being absolutely quiet at the Kingdom Hall. My mother took it on herself to spank children of single mothers (those without a JW husband with them) if they acted up.
Kids being dragged into the bathroom and crying was a common occurrence at meetings. The elders counseled the congregation not to beat their children out front, facing the road, because passerby had noticed. They urged parents to be more "discreet".
I was quiet at the meetings. But I got spanked at home for other reasons. Like the time I accidentally discovered cuss words on the bathroom wall at school and asked my schoolmate, who reported it to the teacher, who promptly reported it to my parents.
Once, my father spanked me purple and blue. One time he threw a shoe at me. Another time he kicked me. Another time he smacked me with an iron rod. When I was 17 or 18, he took his belt and went to town on my back because I called him out for saying a cuss word.
But overall, I had it better than many of y'all.