Most people know that Witnesses do not celebrate holidays including Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Independence Day and even New Years. Many may not realize that they are also banned from celebrating birthdays as the celebration of birthdays, along with holidays, are believed to have pagan origins. Whether or not this is the case, Witnesses believe it is wrong to celebrate any of these occasions. They are also not allowed to salute the flag as they are taught that it is showing allegiance to a country and your total and complete allegiance should be to God. This also means that they are not to get involved in politics by voting or running for public office or joining the military.

The holiday and birthday rule is difficult for a child being raised as a Jehovah’s Witness. Children are not comfortable around those who are seen as “different.” As this religion is not a very large one in comparison to others the Witness child will, most of the time, be the only member in his or her class, grade, or even school if they are attending a small school. The schools I attended while growing up were fairly large but I was definitely in the minority. Elementary school was not difficult for me, although it did have its moments, for instance in fifth grade when I was bullied by a boy in class for not saluting the flag. The difficulties started in junior high school when I started to become interested in after school activities.

Aside from what has been listed above as to what is banned, Witnesses are also discouraged from having friends outside the faith. Witnesses are taught that God (Jehovah) has plans to destroy the earth as it is and create a paradise or utopia and only people of their faith will survive. God will destroy everyone else. Therefore, it is fine to associate with a non-believer in an attempt to convert them, however if this person has no interest in joining the faith, you must not befriend them. It does not matter how good a heart that person may have, if they are not a Witness or have no interest in becoming one you should not befriend them. Also, they believe that there is always a chance a non-Witness may influence you to commit a sin. A popular Bible verse they use to support this belief that you should not make friends of different faiths is the well-known verse in Corinthians, “bad association spoils useful habits.”

This rule applies to children as well. Any after school activities, school dances, pep rallies; these involve associating with all types of people, most of them non-believers therefore it is not allowed. Even if a classmate invites you to their home or to a party, if they are a non-believer, same rule applies. Needless to say, dating a non-Witness is completely out of the question. This is what made things difficult for me as I approached my teen years. I had no interest in getting involved with things that would get me in trouble at school or with the authorities, and at school I made a few friends that weren’t Witnesses that were of the same mindset as me. If one of my friends invited me to her house or to an after school activity I was not allowed to go. It didn’t matter how nice my friend was, because she was not a Witness she may try to influence me to drink, smoke a cigarette, experiment with drugs; none of which I had any interest in doing, anyway. I simply wanted to be a "normal" kid and do "normal" kid things with people at school who were not trouble, but because they did not believe the same way, they were "bad association." So for my childhood, and the childhood of most Witness children, life consists of going to school, going home, going to church (or Kingdom Hall as they refer to it) three times a week and serving in the door-to-door ministry on weekends, something for which this group is most known. Although they are allowed to associate and make friends with other children in their church, what if a child does not have as much in common with others in the same church?

Social media has made it easier to make friends with those whom you have similar interests, but this was not the case in the 1980’s. Each church or Kingdom Hall has more than one congregation which the members are assigned to according to where they live. All members are required to attend the congregation services or “meetings” to which they are assigned. If you do not follow this, you will be reprimanded by the elders, although special circumstances may allow you to attend a different one from time to time. Through mutual friends and family members, I made friends with kids from different congregations from mine, however, if I wanted to spend time with them, this was looked down upon since they were not part ours. Meanwhile, I didn't dislike the kids that attended the same congregation as me, I just didn't have much in common with them and I felt awkward.