National Effective Parenting Plan

On behalf of the National Effective Parenting Initiative (NEPI), an advocacy organization that was established in 2006 (www.effectiveparentingusa.org), I was pleased to announce a plan to make the United States of America the premiere nation for educating parents to be as effective and successful as possible in raising children. The announcement can be seen at http://ciccparenting.org/NewsLetters/NEPIPLAN.htm. This is the Plan that I was interviewed about on CBS Radio News.

It involves a series of actions directed at encouraging the leadership in this country, our president and other elected officials, to become champtions of effective parenting and parenting education. The encouragement is intended to move them to engage in actions within their spheres of influence and control that will stimulate and honor parents for seeking out and obtaining the best possible parenting education. The Plan is based on the reality that this nation possesses the finest parenting education programs in the world but that the vast majority of parents have not used and/or heard about these programs. These programs have a proven track record in educating parents to be more sensitive and successful in promoting their children's growth and development, and making family life more peaceful and pleasant.

Our elected officials and our government can and should play a significant role in promoting effective parenting and creating the conditions in all communities where parents can obtain and receive the best possible parenting education. This is a democracy and we elect qualified neighbors to represent the interests of citizens and communities. These elected representatives certainly should be in the forefront of motivating parents to become the best mothers and fathers they can be, as well as ensuring that the educational resources to do the best job possible are available to every parent in every community. The Plan puts the focus on these leaders and suggests and provides vehicles for how they can be most helpful.

All other groups and individuals who are concerned about children -- our schools and their boards, our religious institutions and their leaders, our businesses and their executives -- should be equally involved and supportive. The future of our nation is in the hands of America's parents. We all have a stake in parents being able to raise the next generation in as fine a fashion as possible.