It is rare for a JW child to be beaten to death, but it is NOT rare for JW children to receive “discipline” as described in these two newspaper articles …. you can see how they interpret the WTS article between the two media releases..

JanG

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-girl13.html Article Text: Biblical beating kills girl: cops

November 13, 2001

BY MAUREEN O’DONNELL, ANA MENDIETA AND ANNIE SWEENEY STAFF REPORTERS

The parents accused of beating their 12-year-old daughter to death have told police they were meting out the biblical punishment of “40 lashes minus one, three times,” detectives said Monday.

Constance Slack, a registered nurse at a children’s hospital, gagged her daughter, Laree, while she was strapped down to a futon, police said. Her father, Larry Slack, then repeatedly hit the child with an inch-thick section of rubberized electrical cable filled with strands of wire, police said. She died of internal bleeding.

“It was horrific,” one seasoned police officer said.

The parents were upset that Laree was being “uncooperative” after they ordered their chilldren to find a smock with credit cards inside Saturday night, police said. Larry Slack is a firm believer in corporal punishment, and he and his wife decided to administer discipline from the Bible, investigators said.

“It was his attempt to teach his daughter about responsibility,” Area 2 Sgt. Stan Salabura said.

Both parents are devout Jehovah’s Witnesses who home-schooled their six children, ages 8 to 17, police and neighbors said.

“He was a strict person. Whenever he came out, the kids would straighten right up and pay attention to him,” said a neighbor who didn’t want to be identified.

But friends were shocked by the allegations. “He was a very peaceful guy and a very smart person. And he was very religious,” said the Rev. Wayne Lewis Jr., who attended Bible studies in the home. “The first time we met he was trying to convert me, but I am a Baptist minister.'”

The Slack home on South Brandon stood empty Monday, calm, with no traces of the tragedy. The family’s two cars were parked outside in the 7900 block. Along the stairway to the second floor were a training manual for Jehovah’s Witnesses, stapled sheets with math problems, a grill, a basketball hoop and a Domestic Violence Safety Plan issued by the Cook County state attorney’s office.

The Slacks were a quiet family who stayed away from their neighbors, hidden behind a 6-foot-high wooden fence that Larry Slack built to replace a chain-link one.

Larry Slack, 42, is a 23-year employee of the CTA who was known as a “good machinist and a hard worker,” Salabura said. Constance Slack, also 42, is believed to work at La Rabida Children’s Hospital, he said.

Both parents have been charged with first-degree murder and also aggravated battery of a child for the alleged beating of their 8-year-old son, also on Saturday night.

The Slack’s five other children all showed indications of physical abuse. They were taken into state custody and placed with relatives, authorities said. Larry Slack was treated at Advocate Christ Hospital and Medical Center Sunday night after allegedly attempting to kill himself while turning himself in to police at Area 2 detective headquarters. He was in the Central District lock-up Monday.

In a statement Monday, the Slack family said it was cooperating with police.

“We loved Laree dearly,” said Leroy Slack, who identified himself as Larry Slack’s uncle and a family spokesman. “We’re very disturbed over the circumstances surrounding her death.”

Contributing: Cathleen Falsani ————————————————————————– —

The Watchtowers stance on Discipline. WT DEC15 2001 p28

PARENTS – FILL YOUR CHILDRENS NEED!

Children need guidance and loving discipline, especially from their parents. In this regard, a Brazilian educator, Tania Zagury, says: “The tendency of every child is to seek pleasure. It is necessary to establish limits. It is the parents who have to do this. If they do not, the children get out of control.”

However, in many lands the influence of a permissive society that exalts personal freedom can make it difficult to follow the above advise. Where, then, can parents turn for help? God fearing parents recognise that their children are “an inheritance from Jehovah.” (Psalm 127:3) Thus, they look to God’s Word, the Bible, for guidance in rearing them. For example, Proverbs 13:24 says: “The one holding back his rod is hating his son, but the one loving him is he that does look for him with discipline.”

The Bible’s use of the word “rod” need not be understood to mean only physical punishment; it represents the means of correction, whatever form it may take. Indeed, very often words may be all that is necessary to correct a childs wayward course. Proverbs 29:17 says: “Chastise your son and he will bring you rest and give much pleasure to your soul.”

Children need loving discipline to eliminate undesirable traits. Such firm and kind correction gives evidence that a parent cares for the child. Proverbs 22:6)

So parents, take heart! By following the sound, practical counsel of the Bible, you will please Jehovah God and gain your children’s respect.

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Stepfather ‘hit boy with riding crop for giggling’

A JEHOVAH’S Witness beat his 11-year-old stepson with a riding crop if he giggled during Bible studies at home, a court heard yesterday.

By David Graves

He also chastised the boy for supporting Lincoln City football team, because he claimed their mascot, the Lincoln Imp, was a symbol of the devil and they were “Satan’s team”, Lincoln Crown Court was told.

The 46-year-old man, who cannot be named, was also said to have beaten his 14-year-old daughter with the crop for dating a boy who was not a Jehovah’s Witness.

Steven Lowne, prosecuting, told the jury: “The regime in this household went beyond reasonable punishment. Having a riding crop lurking in the background to cause pain is going beyond lawful chastisement. It amounts to assault and cruelty.

“Sometimes they were hit with the metal part of the crop. The boy was struck so hard he was marked by the crop over 60 times.”

Mr Lowne added: “If the children cried in bed they were struck all the harder so they had a reason to cry.”

The boy, who was allowed to befriend only other children of Jehovah’s Witnesses, told the jury: “We would get hit for laughing when we should not have, like when we were studying the Bible.

“We would have one warning and then the next time we laughed we would get the riding crop. Then if we carried on laughing it would get harder and harder.”

The boy claimed he was hit mainly on the hands, but sometimes on the legs if he was “really misbehaving”.

His stepsister told the court: “I had a boyfriend and that is really not allowed in the Jehovah’s Witnesses. If I spoke to him I got the crop for that. He wasn’t a Jehovah’s Witness.”

When he was interviewed by police their father claimed the crop was used mostly as a sanction but occasionally as a punishment.

He denies two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He and his wife, both from Lincoln, are also charged with cruelty.

The case continues.

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