This put a lot of pressure on me to perfect my college resume. I became somewhat of GPA junkie, doing extra credit whether I needed it or not.

There were clubs I joined, paid dues to, and never attended. Why? Not because I had an interest in the activities, but because I was collecting memberships for my college resume. My obsession led to many sick and sleepless nights, but it was all worth it when I got accepted to a “prestigious” university.

(Make sure you check out the giveaway at the bottom of this post!)

Even with a huge scholarship, my college education was going to cost about $30,000 a year. No big deal. I heard somewhere that college graduates earned a million dollars more over their lifetime. That bit of misinformation had me signing for massive loans with the same hesitation I might have signed a check for lunch.

Even with my above-average GPA and SAT scores, I am ashamed to admit that it took me until my junior year to figured out that college wasn’t adding up. I finally saw passed the sales pitches and slogans, and I no longer felt like a smart college kid; I felt like a sucker. So, do you know what I did?

For the first time in my life, I thought for myself. Heading into my senior year of college, I quit.

People thought I was crazy, and to this day, they still ask if I plan to go back and finish. I am not saying that I haven’t been tempted. Many people esteem degrees and degreed people. In our society it is an automatic qualifier, whether it deserves to be or not.

But I just can’t do it, I’m no longer a believer.

That is not to say that no one should go to college. If you plan to work in a profession that requires a degree, then you have no choice. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is, and so you will have to submit to the system.

Still, before any kid throws a small fortune at college here are some things that they should know:

What Kids Should Know About College

1. True Cost

You have probably noticed that college is outrageously expensive, but you may not be aware of the total cost. On the low end, with room and board, you will pay about $10,000 and on the high end, maybe $60,000 a year. So, the cost of a 4-year degree runs $40,000 to $240,000, right?

Actually, it can be a lot more than that, because there are other costs, hidden costs, that most high schoolers don’t consider.

Unless the 18 year-old graduate has a trust fund, he is going to need a loan. On $40,000 at 6% over a term of 10 years, our college student is going to pay an additional $18,237 in interest. So, the apparent cost just went up nearly 50%! On $240,000 at 6% over 10 years, he will pay an additional $109,423 interest! Ouch!

Then there is the unearned-income cost. For instance, if you devote 8 hours a day, between school and homework, to college, that is 8 hours that you could have been working. If you only made $10 an hour, that’s $1600 a month – $19,200 a year. Multiply that by 4 years and that’s another $76,000 of unearned income that your four year degree is costing you.

Some people will protest that kids could go to college and work. That doesn’t change a thing because they could also take the extra time to work two jobs.

Oh wait, there might be more! Most of the high paying jobs that require degrees, require more than just a 4-year degree.

For instance, if you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, you are going to need to budget for an additional 3 to 4 years. And the bad news is that graduate degrees always cost more money than undergraduate degrees. So again, factor the cost of room and board, the interest on the loans, and the unearned income.

You start adding it all up, and even if you do make that promised million dollars more, you might need it just to break even!

2. Financial Aid:

Financial aid is rarely that at all. It should called financial enslavement, because that is usually what it is. But if you are going to go to college, you need to know the difference between college grants, college loans, and college scholarships.

A grant will cost you nothing – not now anyway. However, before you get all excited about free college money, understand that there is no such thing as “free money.” The federal government collects money from taxpayers and grants it to you, no strings attached right? Wrong.

Once you graduate and have your degree, you will be a taxpayer, forced to fund other students college grant money. And unlike your student loans, you will be on the hook paying for other students’ college grant money for the rest of your working life!

A college loan is not free money either, it is debt that will be paid with interest.

You are selling banks a substantial stake in your future earnings.

And college loans are the worst, and most dangerous loans because there are no qualifications. When you apply for a home loan, the banks look at your debt to income ratio to determine the loan amount. But most college students have no income, and there is no guarantee that they will have the income to cover the loan after they graduate.

Filing for bankruptcy isn’t likely to help you, as students loans are nearly impossible to discharge. Thanks to the low quality of our schools, most high school students don’t know any of this. That’s why banks love to loan to college students, who will sign their life away without any comprehension.

Scholarships are probably kids’ best option. Still don’t get overly excited. If a school offers you a scholarship, they are simply selling you their services at a discounted price. You are still on the hook for the remaining balance. And you aren’t likely to get a full ride scholarship without strings attached.

Say you earn a full ride scholarship to play football. You haven’t won the lottery! The college is simply paying you in educational vouchers, while they reap real monetary benefits. For most college athletes, their sport is a fulltime job.

Between practice, games, travel, meetings, conferences, and workouts, most spend at least 40 hours a week working for the college. Yet, that college rakes in all the sponsorships, advertising, licensing deals, and ticket money.

Subtract the tuition our full-riders save from they money they could earn working a minimum wage job, and most would come out ahead working the minimum wage job!

3. Education or Degree:

Colleges still maintain a monopoly in degrees and certifications, but they are no longer the sole educators. We live in the information age. I swear, anything college can teach you, Youtube can teach you better!

So, unless your chosen profession requires a degree, educate yourself and keep the change! You want to study art? – then take your tuition money and build yourself an art studio. You want to study business? – then take your tuition and use it as startup money. You want to study history? – then take your tuition and travel the ancient world!

Take your tuition money and get an education, not a degree!

4. A Million Dollars More:

Okay, but in the end isn’t it all worth it? I mean, don’t college students earn a million dollars more over their lifetime?

The answer is no.

This rhetoric is closer to a bold-faced lie, than it is to the truth. It is a lie that could only be bought by an uneducated, schooled population, one that is accustomed to swallowing and regurgitating any line thrown their way.

Homeschooling Teens Giveaway!

Homeschooling your teen is an incredible journey—full of discovery, growth, and the beautiful freedom to learn alongside your child in ways that truly matter.

We want to celebrate YOU and bless your homeschool journey!

I’ve teamed up with an amazing group of bloggers to bring you the Homeschooling Teens Giveaway—one winner will receive a $125 gift card to the store of their choice! Use it for curriculum, resources, or whatever will encourage you most. 

I know there are quite a few entries, but each blogger has generously contributed to make this giveaway possible. And remember, the more entries you complete, the better your chances of winning.

Click to continue reading Things Kids NEED to Know About College…

The post 7 Things Every Teen NEEDS to Know About College (giveaway) first appeared on True Aim.

What does having a degree mean?
Today, having a degree does not necessarily make you more qualified to teach than someone who doesn’t have one.  The skills you actually possess are the defining factor.  The completion of a list of classes and the required tasks associated with them is not a good measurement.

First, some people can take a class without learning or remembering anything significant.  Remember that French class you took in highschool?  The fact that I took one is the extent of what I can recall.  And did I really need to learn how to speak French?

That leads me to my next question; who decided what essential knowledge is needed to teach?  In most secular institutions, a degree in education starts with child psychology and the study of how children learn.  Again you could question the integrity of the origins of these topics, but that is a whole other story.

In short, most institutions are guided by the notion that there is no God and people have no spirit.  That is how experts look at our children; as animals or biological machines.  They try to put them in a box, categorize them, and label them.

Today, having a degree in education usually means two things; teachers have preconceived notions about the learning process, and two, the prestige a degree carries today may be misleading to both society, and the teacher who holds it.

The Prestige
They have just completed 17+ years of schooling.  They should be confident!  But a lot of the time, they take themselves too seriously.  Because the knowledge and techniques that teachers have gained through their degree is seen as essential, the logical conclusion is that it is the best.

What if the assumptions about how our children learn are wrong?  That means, the techniques and systems used to teach our children would miss their mark.

Parents’ esteem for a degree is also detrimental.  Parents believe “experts” are teaching their children and so, they pass the buck to the “more qualified” individual.  When their child slowly starts to fall behind, they start to point fingers.  They trusted the reputation of a piece of paper signed off by a stranger whom they know nothing of their motive or character.

Even society on the whole believes that the “highly qualified” institutions can do no wrong and instead of trying something different, they insist that funding is the problem.  “The experts just don’t have enough resources,” they say.

Dedication, Care, and Love
Who taught your child to crawl?  Who taught them to walk, speak, and use the toilet?  Who cried the first time they said, “I love you mommy?”

You know your child best.  You should not discount your methods or parenting style simply because you don’t have a certificate.

The stranger who has one is not ordained by God for the job.

God has put the responsibility on you and although everyone is accountable for their own wrong doings, you have to be sure you have done your best.  I am, by no means, discounting the dedication, patience, and love that teachers across this nation give to others’ children.  I am, however, questioning the efficiency and merit of the system and encouraging you to remember; you are your child’s first and best teacher.

Just to boost your confidence here are 10 successful people who don’t have a degree:
1. Micheal Dell – dropped out of college
2. Henry Ford – never graduated high school
3. Bill Gates – dropped out of Harvard, then 30 years later they just gave him a degree.
4. John D. Rockefeller Sr. – no formal college
5. Mark Zuckerburg – college drop out
6. Mary Kay – college drop out
7. Walt Disney – high school drop out
8. Steve Jobs – college drop out
9. Jane Austen – formal schooling until age 11, homeschooled, never attended college
10. Richard Branson – high school dropout

You won’t be able to put this book down!

The post I Could NEVER Homeschool My Children first appeared on True Aim.

I must admit, that I did have a rocky start though. In fact, as a boy I hated school with all my heart. It was synonymous with suffering. I counted the minutes of my wasted afternoons. I had big plans: forts to built, creeks to cross, and people to spy on, and there school was talking on and on about who knows what. Being the gullible child that I was, I did trust that schooling was necessary; so I endured.

Then something terrible happened. In fifth grade, I took a standardized test and was discovered.

“Gifted” is what they called me. And suddenly a school that had never noticed me, except to tell me to “sit down,” or “shut up,” began filling my head with nonsense about how special I was and what a bright future I had.

Oh yes, they tell that to everyone. But once you test “gifted,” they actually believe it! They told me that I could be whatever I wanted to be, if I just applied myself in school. It took some convincing, but eventually I believed them.

In that instance, when I came to believe in school, I died and a student was born.

I traded my ambitions, for the school’s. By senior year, I was a GPA junkie. Even when I had an A+, I did the extra credit just to get a fix.

I sucked up to teachers; I sat in the front row; I got nervous for tests; I always completed my homework and I felt cheated if I didn’t get any; I took SAT Prep classes in my spare time; I planned to be the valedictorian; and I dreamed only of college.

School even changed the way I talked to people. There was this book I was reading, it was called something like 10,001 Vocabulary Words You Need to Know for College, and I really took it to heart. But they were mostly words that I had never heard of and were hard to use in sentences. So, I practiced them on my friends. I’d say, “My goodness, this room is quite aphotic.”

My friends didn’t understand what I was saying, and some of them called me stupid. But I knew that the joke was on them because they were going to get rejected from colleges for not knowing those essential vocabulary words!

However, the fog of school dissipates rather quickly after graduation. First, everyone that wanted to go to college got into one! I couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t hard at all.

Second, after high school no one cared about my GPA. Actually, no one has ever asked about it since. Then, the prestigious university that I was so proud to get accepted to wasn’t as brilliant as I had imagined. In fact, it was garbage, even worse than high school!

Finally, I entered the real-world and only a few ounces of my schooling converted over. I felt cheated. They promised me an education, but they gave me school instead.

I knew how to align paper margins according to MLS standards, but I would rather have known how to align the wheels of my car. I understood calculus, but didn’t understand the true cost of my student of loans. I wasted months in school learning concepts and ideas that I now teach my daughters in a single afternoon!

What a waste school ended up being. I never should have engaged. And if it were possible, I would love to have my childhood back; I could have put it to better use!

Would you like to know the truth about school? Would you like to know what it is, and where it came from, and most importantly, why you should never send your children there? Get your questions answered in my new book REVEALING school.

The post Dear School, I Want My Childhood Back first appeared on True Aim.

Describing his experiences in the First World War, he wrote, “Frankly I had enjoyed the war.”

Ruby Bridges is known for being the first black child to attend an all-white elementary school in the South, after the Brown v Board of Education case.

In his teens, Hungarian Jew Tibor Rubin survived a Nazi concentration camp and was liberated by Americans at Mauthausen. Upon coming to America after the war, he joined the military during the Korean War as a thank-you to the soldiers who liberated him. During his time in a Chinese prison camp during the war, for over two years, he sneaked out of his prison barracks to steal food, sharing it among his comrades, and is credited with saving over 40 of his fellow soldiers.

Lizzie Velasquez, dubbed as “The Worlds Ugliest Woman” by a group of bullies, has a rare, untitled medical condition only two other people in the world have – she is unable to gain weight. Despite this, she continues to be a motivational speaker and has recently created a documentary about her life.

Despite being very incredible, these are all generally little-known people. What do these four incredible people have in common? I learned about them – and many more just like them – from Pinterest.

Teen’s, Social Media and Technology

When you hear stories of social media or technology, with parenting, technology is often perceived as negative and bad.

They could be sexting. They could be looking at inappropriate pictures. They could be planning to meet up with someone. And in reality, they could be, and parents should be aware of these dangers and dangerous apps like Snapchat, Tinder, and so-called “anonymous” apps like Whisper or Yik Yak.

In the midst of all this, I think we forget about the positives of social media and technology.

I believe in teaching discernment. This is how I was raised, and I will most likely raise my children this way. If your kids obey you, only to disobey once they’re free from your rules, what have you truly accomplished?

For one, I am a Pinterest guru. Of course, too much Pinterest is unhealthy. It can be addicting, a source of procrastination, and I know some women (women, not teen girls) who don’t like it because it can breed jealousy, especially in the ‘Mommy wars’.

However, I am a visual person. If I can see a picture, I’m more likely to remember it than when I read something.

Pinterest is so much more than just cute crafts and hairstyles, although it is great for both. I have a board dedicated to WWII posters and ads, which in itself can teach a person more about WWII than a textbook ever could.

I have a board dedicated to the Holocaust, filled with portraits of those who survived the Holocaust, died during the Holocaust, or rescued Jews during the Holocaust. Each face has a story in the pin caption, and some pins I have came across so many times I can recite you the caption by heart.

More often than not, when I read about a totally awesome person, it leads me to more research, which leads me to books and articles on the subject. On the modern, practical side of things, I have learned so many household tricks; how to use baking soda, how to cloth diaper, how to buy cheap college textbooks, and just good general advice.

Technology is the future. The job market is wide open for app developers, program developers, engineers and otherwise tech gurus. Technology also isn’t just about materialistic TVs, video games, and the latest Apple product; it’s changing lives.

3D printers are helping create cheaper prosthetics, specifically for kids. Electronic banking has changed the way I live – it’s how I make money without leaving my home. The Internet itself has been a wealth of information, has reunited long-lost families, and has allowed many women to stay at home with their kids and still earn an income.

I don’t believe in throwing the baby out with the bath water. (Pinterest also taught me the origin of that saying!) I believe sheltering kids too much from technology and completely banning anything electronic, or thinking all electronics are bad and time-wasters, will do them a great injustice in the future.

This isn’t to say I believe in playing Candy Crush (which I’ve never played in my life) for hours on end. However, when it comes to being innovative with technology, I encourage it!

Got a gamer? Get him interested in coding or computer animation. A computer-obsessed girl? Get her selling stuff on Amazon or eBay. A lover of social media? Follow history and news accounts. Get them interested in something! You’ll be surprised with what happens when a teen takes on an innovative passion.

Technology is becoming part of our everyday lives. Every day, we must learn how to use it properly; without letting it take over our lives. When used wisely and properly, social media and technology can not only be a fun pastime, but it can be a vast source of information.

The post Why I Love Social Media and Technology – a teen’s perspective first appeared on True Aim.

I was really scared! So scared, I told my mom that I wanted to sleep with the light on. She let me, but not before she made the futile attempt to comfort me by informing me that the movie wasn’t real.

Yeah, I knew that. The cartoon characters gave it away. Yet, there I was, all sick and sweaty nonetheless.

Most people don’t understand how television works.

That is why they innocently assure their kids that it is only “make-believe.” I have never seen that reassurance work.

I have never seen a kid say, “Oh wow, thanks for letting me know mom! I thought Freddy Krueger was real! Now that you’ve explained it, I feel much better. Please turn out the light; I am very sleepy, now.”

Everyone knows that television is pretend. However, that doesn’t mean that television doesn’t have real effects.

Capturing Our Senses

So, how can movies that we know are make-believe provoke real fear?

Well, the conscious mind understands that the scenes are pretend, but the subconscious mind doesn’t.

The subconscious has seen something terrible, and is acting accordingly. A child will make the same logical appeal to himself, “it wasn’t real,” but the subconscious is impossible to convince. The subconscious mind wasn’t wired for make-believe; it sees danger and reacts accordingly.

That is the danger of television.

It has the power to make us think and feel things that are not in line with reality. In the subconscious world, perception is reality.

If you think this is true only of children, think again. The adult brain works the exact same way. Why do you think pornography sells? Jason pops in a porno called “Sally Pole Dancing” and is sexually aroused.

It makes no sense. Sally isn’t in the room. There is nothing in front of him except a screen with colors and back lighting.

Sally Pole Dancing was filmed 30 years ago. The real Sally now lives in a retirement home, but the conscious mind can’t talk reason into the subconscious mind. The subconscious sees a sexy woman and acts accordingly.

This is the power of television.

It has the ability to hijack viewer’s senses, thoughts, and emotions. Viewers imagine they are passively viewing a show, while producers know the show is actively engaging their senses – whether the audience thinks so, or not.

Click to see the full graphic of how brands use your subconscious mind.

Perception is Reality

There are approximately 74,200,000 children in the United States. Of those, roughly 115 of them are abducted by a stranger who intended to harm them (yes, kidnapping is higher, but we are talking about ones that end in murder). That means your child has 1 chance in 645,217 of being kidnapped.

Yet, parents live in a constant state of fear. Obviously, our fear is not substantiated by reality.

The paranoia is driven by television. Everyday parents see and hear the horrors of the few cases that do happen on the news. Every detail is told, over and over, by every news outlet. Because they are drawing from national, and sometimes world news, we hear some sick story every day, and it begins to feel like every other child is at risk.

If that wasn’t bad enough, in the evening we sit down and entertain ourselves with depraved shows, like CSI. Every episode is a rendition of some sick twisted serial killer, rapist, murder, or pedophile.

Of course, CSI is fiction, but again, that doesn’t matter to the subconscious mind. The subconscious is being flooded with vile and terrifying images, day after day, and it responds accordingly, putting us in a constant state of paranoia.

TV’s Impact on Our Kids

The same images have an even greater impact on our children. This doesn’t just apply to violence. The subconscious mind that takes in thousands of scenes of “dumb fathers” will feel that fathers are dumb. The subconscious that see thousands of slutty women, will feel that women are slutty.

Even if the conscious mind is taught otherwise, it will be in conflict with the feelings of the subconscious. In other words, you can consciously read the statistics to know that your children are safe, but you won’t be able to shut off the “feeling” that they aren’t.

Again, where the conscious mind might distinguish between reality and television, the subconscious can’t. The subconscious gathers information about the world and that influences behaviors based on that perceived reality.

From the subconscious, reflexive behaviors are formed. That is why a person is able to hear a gunshot and reflexively duck down. The conscious didn’t give any directions, because the subconscious is able to act on its own.

However, a serious problem arises when the subconscious develops reflexive behavior based on the information and situations it observes from television, and not the real world.

Propaganda in TV

The ability to capture and influence the subconscious mind makes television a most power tool of persuasion and propaganda. Given enough time, television can convince its audiences of almost anything. How does it work? It is really very simple.

The key is to create a theme, and then blast that theme everywhere.

Here is an example to illustrate my point:

Recently, Obama opened the doors for women to join the infantry and special forces. Fifty years ago, Americans would have the thought the idea wicked and stupid. In the past, Americans couldn’t believe that women could handle the physical demands of combat, and the idea of having women shot, or captured and tortured was out of the question.

That is where movies like G.I. Jane came in. Through G.I Jane, the subconscious mind witnessed a female endure rigorous Navy Seal training, POW training, combat and heroism.

More importantly, America got to see the skeptics’ minds changed. Men (actors) who were vehemently against women in combat, grew to respect and even embrace women in combat. And to the average viewer, they had to think, “If women can make believers out of Navy Seals, who am I to say women shouldn’t be in combat.”

Why TV Can be Bad for Our Kids

It didn’t matter that none of it was true. The subconscious doesn’t know the difference. The subconscious had witnessed a woman go through the process, and that observation forced the subconscious mind to reevaluate its perception of reality. For the subconscious, seeing is believing.

This warrior-woman image was continually depicted in movies and tv shows, until the majority of Americans believed woman really did belong in combat. Never mind that they had never seen the real thing.

Whether you agree with women in combat or not, isn’t the point. The point is that television producers have the power to make us like and hate, agree and disagree, all based on the artificial realities that they depict.

Children are much more susceptible to the influences and suggestions of television, because they have so few real-world experiences to combat the artificial reality created in Hollywood.

What’s more, the impact and impressions last much longer. From children’s television perceptions, behavior patterns are formed, so that even when they experience reality and it contradicts the television’s depiction, they will continue the behavior according to their habits, regardless of their new revelations.

What are your TV viewing habits? Were you aware of these things before reading this post?

The post What Does TV Really do to Kids? first appeared on True Aim.

More Blood is the most controversial book on education ever written. It has the power to change the conversation about school forever. And while More Blood is non-fiction, it is anything but dull!

Personal stories, forgotten histories, secret motives, and dark sciences make this book a true page-turner. The deeper you read, the more that’s revealed.

This post contains a giveaway. For more info read my full disclosure.

More Blood is broken into three parts: The Place Without Love, The Evolution of Tyranny, and A Programmable Man. When you get to Part 3, you won’t want to believe what you read, but won’t be able to help reflecting on it for the rest of your life. Part 3 will blow your mind! You’ll never look at school the same.

If you have school-aged children, you must read More Blood – you have to know what school is really doing to them!

Click here to read a free sample

Part 1: The Stairway to Hell.

In it, you’ll discover a taste of the stories that bring this book to life. More Blood is available in Paperback for $17.99 and digital versions for $9.99.

Join the Discussion!

Whether you agree or disagree, you voice is important. Over the next few months, Britton will be speaking about topics in More Blood and we’d love for you to join the conversation! On Sep. 11, at 8:00 p.m. we are teaming up with the iHomeschool Network for a LIVE interview to talk about two major myths of public education. Or, make your voice heard by using #MoreBlood.

RSVP for the event on Google+ or watch it on YouTube!

If you’d like more information, or to see upcoming interviews with the author, just click here to subscribe.

The post What Does School Really Do to Your Kids? first appeared on True Aim.

A few years ago, I heard about the school district’s annual levy on the radio. The vote was scheduled for Friday. I planned to show up and vote NO. By a random chance I happened to turn the radio on on a Wednesday, and guess what, I found out that the vote had been moved forward to that day! I think this was intentional. All the kids and parents would know because the schools made announcements, but if it hadn’t been for my luck, I would have still showed up on Friday.

When I went to vote the place was of course, the local schools. On top of that, I found out why the vote was moved to that Wednesday; it was parent-teacher conference night or something; oh and the school choir was preforming. How perfect, parents who wouldn’t have shown up otherwise, now would be available to vote prior to the concert. And the school wasn’t bashful about it. They were telling the parents to vote. Of course, we didn’t stand a chance and the lev y was passed.

New school construction in my town. KYLE GREEN — kgreen@idahostatesman.com

Well, they played a similar game this year. Again, if it wasn’t for the random chance that I turned the radio on, I wouldn’t have know about the proposed levy or the vote. Thanks to a local radio host, Nate Shelman, who got the word out, we finally had enough property owners show to defeat a levy!!!!  This was a huge victory because our school districts never lose!!!!

Well, there was this parent calling property owners who voted against the levy idiots, and I had to respond.  Here is what Ryan said:

“Shame on the voters for not getting this passed. It boggles the imagination how unintelligent and short-sighted the electorate can be. We have let our children down and let our community down, by being so incredibly miserly as not to fund needs that are blatant and obvious. The funny irony is that in doing so, the homeowners of the district have shot themselves in the foot. Don’t people realize that school quality and property values go hand-in-hand? If we fail to fund our schools, school quality suffers and buyers are strongly deterred from buying homes in our district; thus the value of our homes slip. By being such overly-aggressive penny pinchers we are robbing ourselves of our home values, not to mention robbing our children of the education they deserve.”

Here was my response:

“I am so sick of the schools sob stories every year, calling for more handouts. They stack new levies on us every year and people like you believe their rhetoric. By the way your logic is incredibly flawed. If we passed this levy we’d be paying the tax, then if property values went up we’d be paying more taxes for that, and we’d only make money if, and when we sold. The trouble is that unless we buy a new house outside this area, then we’d be paying higher prices because, well, the property values went up. If my house was $100,000 and this levy increases my value by 5%, I’d make 5,000 when I sold. But then if I upgraded in the same area to, let’s say to a $200,000 house and it also went up 5%, I’d be paying an additional $10,000. Minus my “gain” from the home I sell and I’m still out another $5,000!

Thank goodness we finally defeated one of these stinking school levies. If you want to invest more money in failing schools, go ahead – write a check. No one is stopping you and I’m sure you’ll make your money back when your property value goes skyrocketing! But stop trying to pass levies extorting money from property owners. We already pay enough!”

As schools start back up all across the country, make sure you know what you’re giving money to.

Coming Soon…

The post If You Want to Invest More in Schools, No One is Stopping You! first appeared on True Aim.

Source

The next thing this couple knows, police and child protective services barge into their home and kidnap their baby boy!  The terrified mother is told, and I quote, “I am going to grab your baby and don’t resist and don’t fight me okay?”  The horrified mom pleads with the officers, but they have no sympathy, they have their orders. (see video below)

Then as a last appeal, the mom asks where her baby is being taken.  The wretched social worker patronizes the weeping mother, and I quote, “We are not going to tell you right now because I’m, you’re not, I don’t think you’re acting rationally right now.”  Really?  How should a rational mom act when her baby is being abducted?!

This couple was taught a profound object lesson.  Object lessons always pack a little more punch, especially when the object is your baby.  Here the teachers were the policemen and the social worker and the moral of their story is this:

Children are property of the state, and we can repossess your children at anytime, for any reason, and you, being nothing more than the boy’s mother, had better not try to stop us!

I realize there are times for the State to step in, but never, not ever, like this!  Parents should be innocent until proven guilty, there should at the very least be some hint of abuse, and parents should always be told where the authorities are taking their babies.

While children should be protected from “real” abuse, parents and children should be protected from the abuses and terror of over zealous, baby-napping social workers.  If there is not more to this case, then I hope the couple sues California back into bankruptcy!

Don’t miss a thing!  Get updates sent directly to your inbox.  It’s Free!
Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

The post Terrifying Object Lesson for Moms! first appeared on True Aim.

Norman Rockwell

These surveys categorize spanking as a form of violence and then lump a few swats on the behind into a broader “category of excessive violence.”  In other words, there is no control group in these studies for parents that give their children a few swats on the behind and a drunken father that flies into a blind rage and nearly beats his son to death with a 2 x 4!

Using similar logic I could argue that nearly anything is abusive.  For example, I could point to a mother who starves her children to death and then draw the ridiculous conclusion that forcing a child to skip a meal is child abuse.  Or, I might point to a mother who drowned her children in the tub and then argue that forcing children to bath is child abuse.  I could take a father who verbally berates and curses at his children, and then use it a proof that scolding children is child abuse.  Or, I could tell you about parents who chained their children up in locked rooms and then use that example to condemn groundings and time-outs. 

Of course, all these arguments are intellectually dishonest, but that doesn’t stop the “no spanking” crowd from terrorizing loving parents with their vicious rhetoric!  They love to point to instances of horrific child beatings and then tie them to all parents who spank.   There is a huge difference between “spanking a child” and “beating a child!”  No one is for “beating children,” but don’t tell me spanking is the same thing.  If you can’t see that, then don’t spank your children, but stop telling everyone else that they are committing child abuse!  It is Offensive!  WE DO NOT ABUSE OUR CHILDREN!

Hopefully, these two points will give you some reassurance that spanking is not child abuse.  Now the questions are:  “Does spanking work?”  “Is spanking the best form of discipline?” “Is spanking Biblical?” and “Is there a spanking technique that works best?”  My answer to all of these is YES, but I will go into all that in a later post.

I realize this can be a polarizing issue, so I would love to hear what the rest of you think about spanking.  If you have an opinion, please leave a comment.    

If you liked this post, Please like me on Facebook or Follow me on Pinterest. Thanks for your support!

Linking up here!

The post Spanking is not Abuse! first appeared on True Aim.

Apparently, a Texas school district is demanding kids wear radio chips to help school officials track them.  School officials say the chips will help them fight truancy and in doing so increase the districts funding.  I am not sure how I feel about this one.  I can understand the purpose, but still think it is sad testimony to the direction public education is headed.  Every day our schools seem to increasing resemble prisons.  And while there may be some real benefits, there is something inhumane about “chipping” children.

Want to give your child a Head Start?  

Check out our Preschool Curriculum.

The post School Tracking Children? first appeared on True Aim.