The Bismarck Educational Sytem is a patented educational methodology developed by Patrick J. Atkinson to be an alternative to traditional academic motivational approaches. It strives to protect and strengthen a child's right to a loving family in every way possible, and to use inherent and immediate motivational forces to guide a disconnected child and his/her family (when they exist) into actively pursuing the educational process.
The Bismarck System pursues the goal of having most children live at home with their natural families whenever this is possible. It pursues the obvious and studied advantages that a loving, home-care childhood has on the individual child. It also recognizes and discourages the depersonalizing process intrinsic when children are institutionalized.
Street children, orphaned children, children without a positive family structure, and children who need to travel long distances in order to study are placed in carefully selected and supervised foster homes.
The assistance offered to the children of The GOD'S CHILD Project through The Bismarck System can be separated into two distinct categories: those forms of assistance which The Bismarck System considers to be "natural human rights" (and are received equally by all of the children in the program), and those determined to be "earned rights".
Natural Human Rights
Generally speaking, natural human rights include food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and room & board and tuition for minor children in the foster family program.
Earned Rights
Some of the assistance the children receive is packaged as "earned rights" which the child "earns" through his or her report card. This is done in order to emphasize the child's role and self-determination in the program and to show the value of education. Earned rights may include tuition, school supplies, pocket money, and bus fare. The proportion of these expenses that are paid by The GOD'S CHILD Project is determined by each child's performance in the classroom. In addition, the children can earn "construction points" based on their academic grades. These construction points can later be exchanged for a home improvement project offered through visiting ServiceTeams, an all-volunteer opportunity organized as part of The GOD'S CHILD Project's Gateway Experience program.
The combined package of "natural human rights" and "earned rights" is referred to within the Project as the child's "scholarship" in order to emphasize the child's role in a dignifying manner.
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