Were you beaten as a child?

purrpurr

I've been confronting my mother with her dubious parenting skills (abuse) of me as a child. Particularly the beatings I would get with the wooden spoon. Not a light smack but hitting me as hard as she could for as long as she could. One time the spoon actually broke!

Now she sees it as she was only smacking me, because she was beaten herself by her father and with a cane, so in her mind that means that she didn't beat me... Because it wasn't the same. Odd reasoning I know. Then of course there's the bible and the GB actively encouraging parents to beat their children using that awful bronze age scripture.

In my adult life now whenever someone physically (surprises) me I jump out of my shoes and scream. I can't help it it's engrained reaction.

Did you get beaten? How do your parents justify themselves now?

OneEyedJoe

My mother used a wooden spoon as well. Never broke it on me, but she did break it on my brother once when he tried to block the hit and the spoon connected with one of his knuckles. Spoon was normally on the butt. Sometimes she'd slap us across the face and leave a hand print.

Father's tool of choice was a 2" wide heavy leather belt. He'd whip us one hit per word while explaining what it was that we'd done wrong.

I'm not sure I hold it against them. They'd been indoctrinated to believe this was the best thing for us, and society at the time was pretty much in agreement. So while it's not something that I think is right to do, I can let it go. I'm hesitant to try to connect it to any lasting effect into adulthood too. Maybe it has had an effect on me, but I suspect that the effect is much smaller than having been raised in a cult overall. That's something I do sort of resent my parents for on some level.

Gefangene

My mom used to beat me. Slapping my face very hard that my ear felt deaf for a couple of hours. When she was angry at me she chased me through the flat and id throw myself on my bed curling myself up and she beat me with fists allover.. even on the head.

When I was a teen I got a glass shelf and I remember asking my mother to be careful not to break it during a rage episode directed at me...

OUTLAW

Were you beaten as a child?

Absolutely..I was told JW children enjoy being disciplined..

Especially for breaking WBT$ Rules..

Gawd help you if you disagreed..

How do your parents justify themselves now?

They were your typical obnoxious,pain in the ass,self righteous JW`s..

According to them,they never did anything wrong.....Ever..

Now they`re Good JW`s who no longer cause problems for anyone..

They`re dead..

.

......................

Pete Zahut

I remember from about 4 or 5 years old regularly getting hauled out to the back seat of the car by my father during the meeting and having the living daylights beaten out of me with a belt.This happened to all the kids in the Hall. One Sister used to keep a length of black rubber hose from a washing machine in her purse and whip it out and whack her girls across their bare thighs right in the meeting. I remember how she'd brag that it stung but didn't leave a welt and recommended it to other Moms.

There was a tiny little girl named Tammy who they called the "NO MOMMY" girl. She's shriek in terror all the way up the aisle "NO MOMMY...NO MOMMY....I'LL BE GOOD" I remember purposely not looking at her so she wouldn't be embarrassed. (I'm getting teared up just thinking of all of this)

Later, when I had kids of my own, I said to my parents "What in the world could a 4 or 5 year old kid do during a meeting to warrant being beaten so severely? All I remember is that you thought I wasn't listening or was daydreaming and the terror of the pain and what was about to happen and the shame of being dragged up the aisle with everyone looking at me and then trying to control my whimpering and sniffles on the way back to my seat."

My parents, (who were actually lovely people), looked quite ashamed and said "Well....it's what we were admonished by the Society to do...looking back on it, you kids were really very well behaved and we'd do things a lot differently now, but that's what everyone expected you to do then"

I could see that they were ashamed so I dropped it but I said "A person really has to think for himself in these things....can't imagine beating my kids because someone expected me to."

GrreatTeacher

Yes, I was dragged to the KH basement and spanked.

Due to my sceaming, some of the other children thought there was a monster down there, and, consequently they behaved.

Ucantnome

I dont remember being beaten he kicked me out the door once for telling the truth

sparky1

"Were you beaten as a child?"-purrpurr

DOES A BEAR SHIT IN THE WOODS?

My mother was a pillar of our Circuit. One of the 'older women' that would always be pointed to as a model Christian and devout Jehovah's Witness. I watched her break a Melamine plate over my oldest sisters head and knock her out cold (She did this 2 times but I only saw it one time). On many occasions she would whip my two older sisters with an electrical extension cord on their bare legs. She was a very overweight woman and used this to her advantage. Once she caught one of my sisters skipping school. When my sister got home, my mother knocked her to the floor, sat on her chest and then proceed to pound my sisters head into the floor. Once when she was mad at my brother, she knocked him over on his motorcycle. Good thing he wasn't moving! I was lucky enough to have her beat me about the head and shoulders with an old fashioned stacked heeled shoe once on the way to the meeting. I still have a scar behind my ear where she drew blood and never took me to a Doctor. Let me review: My mother hit or beat all of us with wooden spoons, extension cords, broom handles, plates, large carving knives, belts, small pieces of furniture, the metal hose from a vacuum cleaner, shoes, the bristle part of a hairbrush and just about anything that she could pick up and use. My mother sounds just like OUTLAW'S parents. She was a SAINT in her own eyes and her children were evil for 'making up stories about punishment that never happened'.

(If it were possible, OUTLAW, I would give your comment 100,000,000 likes for telling it like it REALLY was for many of us raised by unbalanced religious fanatics)

Dagney

My mother would tell the story of me lining up my dolls to play meeting. She observed me angrily jerking them out of the seat and beating the heck out of them. She was taken aback as that was what I was copying from the meetings. She said it was sobering.

My heart goes out to all of those kids, who now are grown, but still bear the marks.

fulano

We (my brother and I) had it two or three times. I never even thought of touching my child now. It just is not the right thing to do.

Were you beaten as a child?

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