Michael
H. Popkin, PhD
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Spring 2001
The future
of Parent Education
I don't know how many of you remember when we
launched the world's first video-based parent
education program back in 1983, but it was
exciting.
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People would come by our exhibit at conferences and stare
in amazement at the sheer innovation of using television
and a VCR to teach parent education. I remember Dr.
Benjamin Spock himself pointing at our brand-new Active
Parenting Discussion Program and saying, "This
is the future of parent education."
He was right. These days video-based parent education is
everywhere. It works because it was a better delivery
system for the information and skills that people need
for parenting children in a democratic society. It
remains state of the art some 18 years later in spite of
the fact that it only reaches about 5% of the parents who
need it. And this is why it is time to innovate once
again. There are just some parents, many parents, who for
whatever reason will not GO to a parent education group.
Many of these same parents would take such a course if
they could do so without ever leaving home or their hotel
room (business travelers have a hard time attending a
traditional group).
The answer is online parent education. We are excited
about introducing the first online Active Parenting
Today web-based course, and have had two successful
beta tests to confirm our enthusiasm. We are currently
training online leaders, as well as parents, and would
welcome your participation. To learn more about this
cutting-edge educational technology, see the article
in this issue. I have a feeling that Dr. Spock might
smile and say once again, "This is the future of
parent education." Michael
H. Popkin, Ph.D.
Founder and President, Active Parenting Publishers
Reprinted from Leader magazine.
Copyright 2001 by Active Parenting Publishers, Inc.
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