here is some JW discussion on 'proper' discipline:
"As for meetings, whatever you have to do so as not to disturb the meeting. Taking a child
outside, or to the rest room or using the wooden spoon. (I always carried that spoon & it
worked wonders! Then we graduated to the belt & that works wonders, even now at
home!) But, that's also a personal decision on how we discipline our own kids."
Another JW heard from:
"
Sometimes children need to be whacked for their own good. My children don't get
whipped in meetings but know that if they don't behave they will get it on the bare
backside with a switch when they get home. It is loving to discipline our children. Even
Jehovah disciplines those he loves. If we don't get our kids into line they will soon be out
of our control - that is why society is what it is like today."
Jws can't believe ANYONE thinks their kidwhacking is indecent!
As this one says, "I cannot BELIEVE people can think such things of Jehovah's Witnesses! People have their
own ways of disciplining their own kids. If you feel that talking your way thru a problem
& never hitting (even with a small child that doesn't even really talk yet) is going to work,
so be it. But a wooden spoon works best on other kids. "To each his own", as they say. As
for this nonsense of touting every piece of physical discipline as "child abuse", I can
certainly say that is NOT a Bible teaching! If I was given a beatin' when I was growing
up, I would have had more respect for authority & would have not been such a
smart-aleck, as Mom always used to say."
AS this JW mom says, 'to each his own,' even if that means using spoons on babies or belts on naked butts...
"As for 'bashing' those of us who DO slap a
little hand or use a wooden spoon to teach who is in authority in the family, it's best to
just look at
it as, "To each his own." Since there is nothing Scripturally WRONG with such discipline,
then
where's the argument??? There really isn't any. And as I mentioned before, the difference
may be
just a cultural one. Maybe some here never thought of it in that way. So, maybe we
should think
again, yes?)"
It's just a CULTURAL difference, and it's in the BIBLE that we should whack 'em!
And of course there is the psychological motivation available to good JW parents:
"That was the picture of the babies being placed in the burning sacrifice to Baal,
showing how evil those pagans were. When my kids misbehaved, I would show that
to them, and it would straighten them right out. Also, the picture of the earth opening
up at Armageddon and swallowing up the sinners was a great motivator for them."
WHAT A GREAT MOTIVATOR!
****
I collected these quotes from a JW parenting board a couple of years ago. (I also complained to their ISP, and RHW and some other women gave 'em pretty swift chase into the realm of the real over the issue on their board...they're a tad more careful about admitting to childbeating but I doubt we changed any minds, unfortunately...)
I wrote an article on the subject but the issue is so emotionally charged for me that I felt the piece was irretrievably biased, and it has languished in my files since then. I find it impossible to evn pretend to objectivity about this. My personal experience, and the experiences I was offered by others, combined with these quotes from active JW elderettes (proving that 'beat and terrify the babies' is still de rigeur among upright Jdubs), led me to conclude that there is no way for me to objectively discuss this topic. It's just too close to my heart for me to be dispassionate.
I won't post the 'experiences' portion of the article unless requested. I warn you, most of what I received is heartrending. The sickening quotes above are the tip of an enormous iceberg. Among JWs, child abuse is often found parading in discipline's clothes.
