SYSTEM MIRACLES FROM HARRISON'S METHODS AT HOME?

(The following are a few of the seeming miracles made possible by using System methods at HOME. Click on http://hometown.aol.com/ALLANHARRI/index.html to see a basic and very limited version of  System methods.)

Only a few examples with very skimpy details can be offered on this web site. However, if you need realism, Harrison's books truly portray problems and solutions as they actually occurred inside classrooms or HOUSEHOLDS.

     1.  Problem:  Mrs Mary S., with 4 children, was a single mother who desperately needed self-reliant children. The kids ages were 14, 12, 10, and 7. With her small paycheck it was impossible to hire a sitter and still pay bills. She lived in a rundown neighborhood when she discovered the Harrison System. Her family had had numerous run-ins with the law.
     Solution:  After starting System methods, things gradually improved. It was difficult, at first, for the children to accept self accountability. Previously, under management methods, the kids were accustomed to defying authority when they couldn't "bamboozle" it. Upon discovering that each child was truly self accountable, inside the household, and must pay for their own mistakes, the children began asking for advice from mother, whenever the solution to a problem wasn't clear.
     This delighted Mrs. S.  She began giving more and more self responsibility to her older children who accepted and used it with an almost grown-up attitude. Her oldest son assumed full responsibility for the family while mother worked. The younger children, witnessing the privileges enjoyed by the older youngsters, begged for similar opportunities. Soon, many problems for Mrs. S. disappeared. Gangs, drugs, peer influence, and such worries became things of the past. When asked by other parents why she liked the System, this was her reply:  "Why do I like it! It eliminates work and my guilt! As a single mother, I have to have self-reliant kids - and now I have them."
     2.  Problem:  Mr. & Mrs. B. became perfect examples of why opposites attract and yet often lead to explosions. Mrs. B. was a permissive parent while her husband was an authoritarian parent and sometimes abusive. Their 5 kids understood this and (as kids will) used it at every opportunity to stir things up in the family. Nevertheless, no child in the B. household liked the situation as it existed. However this didn't stop each youngster from pitting one parent against the other as an expedient way to achieve what he or she wanted at the moment. One day Mrs B. discovered the System.
     Solution:  After using the System for 6 months, both parents made the following statement:  "The System makes parents consistent. The kids insist!"  But this declaration doesn't do justice to a proper description of what actually happened.
     Things had gotten so bad between the parents that divorce was considered. After starting the Program, the first miracle appeared in the form of the "Family Council!" Father B. quickly discovered that he could no longer be the sole authority in the family. Mother B. had equal voting rights at Council meetings. Together, he and his wife, had sufficient votes for control. However, he needed either his wife's vote or a sufficient number of the youngsters' voting in his favor to enact the "Household Rules" he desired. This often was not easy to do unless he modified his proposal to conform with the opinions of other family members. Actually, it developed into a perfect training program to improve Father B.'s personality not only at home but also at work. He soon received a promotion on the job where he might not have even been considered before.
     The second miracle appeared in the form of the "Justice Program."  Father B could no longer be the tyrant or abusive as he was before. After a number of lost "Lawsuits," the father began to mend his autocratic ways and learned to settle disputes in "Court" or else to use the "Laws" enacted for the purpose by the Council. At the same time, the children quickly learned they could no longer pit one parent against the other. Moreover, they now had nothing to fear from father. The Law was the Law!  Disobedience brought either a reward or a penalty in Points. Also, Mother now began to stand up for her rights as she never had before. Nobody even talked about divorce ever again.
     3.  Problem: Mr. & Mrs Q. were having a difficult time making ends meet. The father was a janitor with numerous part-time jobs and his wife was a stay-at-home mother with 9 kids born about a year apart. The oldest child was a boy 17 years old and still living at home. The couple were fortunate in having the next 4 oldest children as boys who were employed in various capacities after school on a part-time basis. Nevertheless, feeding, clothing, and housing, such a large family was straining father's time and income beyond belief to say nothing about mother's frantic efforts at trying to manage such a large household, even as a stay-at-home mother.
     Solution:  Mr. & Mrs. Q. made the following statement after using the System for about 7 months:  "It creates kids who want to help financially at home as they get older.  The System is a real necessity at our house."
     The reason for such a statement lies with the logic involved for large families using the Harrison System . The "Q" Family Council is composed of 11 people. Father, mother, and 9 children. Father and mother have 4 Council votes each for a total of 8 votes. Each of the older five children have 1 vote each for a total of 5 votes. The remaining 4 children had 3/4 of a vote to 1/4 of a vote each. Thus, the parents could still control the family when they combined their votes or received voting support from some of the children. This welded the family together as nothing else could. Moreover, it eliminated much of mother's work and stress trying to control so many children. Every child knew that the System pitted each lawbreaker against the whole Family Council rather than just Mother. So, there was no argument possible against this.
     Actually, the Family Council and the voting power it provides are miracles which can be stated very succinctly by a quote from another father and mother. Mr. & Mrs. R. with 5 kids say this: "We love the way voting power is divided at Council Meetings. Parents have control until children can exercise proper decisions. Yet, the children feel included in the decision making. They can air their opinions with a partial vote, depending upon their age and ability."      The next problem for the Q family called for a System financial solution acceptable to everyone in the family.
     The Q's family's Council decided that their Budget for the month would come to $2400 cash. Based upon a 10 to 1 ratio, 24,000 points would be available for the home's self accountability program. With 11 people in the household, each person's "Fair Share" for contribution purposes must be either $218 cash or 2182 points (divide $2400 or 24,000 points by eleven). The points were earned by doing chores for the whole household or by accommodating members with points to spend, as described below.
     Mr. & Mrs Q, together, contributed $436 cash and received 4360 pts. to pay their children for doing personal things for them (e.g. shining their shoes, cleaning up after a mess which was made by them, etc.). The oldest boy added $200 cash from his grocery store job to the needed cash required for the month. He therefore received 2000 points and was required to earn only 182 points more doing chores for the family. The next oldest boy offered $100 cash from his shoe store clerking job. So he received 1000 points and needed to earn 1182 more. The next oldest two boys provided $50 each from their paper route money (making a total of $100 cash contribution) and received 500 points each. Each boy needed to earn 1682 more points each doing household chores. The next oldest boy could offer only $25 cash and received 250 points. He then had to earn 1932 more points. The remaining four children had to earn their full 2182 points doing chores around the house. As the kids aged, more cash could be contributed and voting power added. Naturally, the parents also furnished the other $1539 in cash needed to operate the household for a month. However they received more than their money's worth from their children who now eagerly did chores around the home. At the end of a month (or 2 - 6 months as desired) everyone started over (but remember, this isn't the way life is and should be so explained to the children). Thus, lessons learned prevented similar mistakes and any "huge"accumulation of points.
     4. Problem & Solution:  Trudy D. with 3 kids says this:  "In the beginning, I thought offering material rewards to be wrong since some child experts said it was. Now I realize that these so-called experts were mistaken. Before, without a valuable scorekeeper for self accountability, I HAD to manage the kids.  The more I managed the more they seemed to need it. My stress and work multiplied. Now I seem to have time for everything without any stress, It's wonderful! We keep these precepts before us: Earned rewards, yes! Bribes, no! And, fines for neglected work!"
     5.  Problem: Ray N. with one child was worried because he felt the public schools were not teaching his son proper skills and attitudes to survive in the business world.  He examined private school after private school and found no improvement there. Finally he came across the Harrison System for home use.
     Solution:  Ray, being a single (divorced) parents, started the System at home. He was delighted with all of its business aspects. He made the following statement about the System:  "Teaches kids complexity of monetary and business transactions. It obviously builds future entrepreneurs and leaders."
     System businesses in the home are varied and create miniature capitalists. The children can buy at auction and operate the "Household Baking Company," the "Coupon Clipping Company" (reduces household costs), "Household Mechanic Company," and many more just as interesting.
     6.  Problem & Solution:  Mr. & Mrs. O. with 2 kids sum up the System best:  "Creates loving, caring, and trusting children who treat money only as a scorekeeper and a means of achieving self accountability.  It builds a conscience the best way of all, through experience rather than talk.  People should know that no one can beat or lecture a conscience into a kid."
     7.  Problem & Solution:  In conclusion, probably Mr. & Mrs. Q. describe the System the most accurately:  "The System distinguishes between what is the child's duty and what isn't.  Non-performed duties bring a fine.  Properly performed work earns a reward. A civic duty involves no reward and teaches the required lesson. No reward other than a smile or praise teaches slavery.  All System kids know the difference between charity and forced or guilt giving."

A WORD OF WARNING:  Don't let the complexity of the Harrison System turn your family off from using it. Start with the basic program and add things as needed or wanted. Merely look at life as we adults should live it for solutions to problems in the home.