The National Parenting Center Helps Parents Be Better Informed

By Deborah Lambeth

Most parents share the same basic instinct when it comes to their children. They want to be sure their child is healthy, safe, protected, and educationally challenged, among other things. There are millions of products available for infants and children, so how is a parent to know which ones are the best choices for their child?

The National Parenting Center can help. The center was founded in 1989 with the sole intention of providing parents with the most comprehensive and responsible parenting advice available anywhere. According to the center’s president, David Katzner, the advice provided by the center is furnished by some of the world’s most respected authorities in the field of child rearing and development.

In 1990, the center created a Seal of Approval program to identify the finest products and services being marketed to parents and children. The program evaluates hundreds of items, from educational and entertainment products such as books, movies, and games, dolls, software, and even clothing and travel destinations. The Seal of Approval program is an independent consumer-oriented testing process that solicits evaluations from parents and their children, who judge products and services and then provide feedback about them.

Testing consists of a multi-step process conducted over the course of eight weeks. Volunteers administer and oversee the testing, giving parents, children, and educators the opportunity to examine a variety of products. Study participants are encouraged to read about the products, build things or play with them, and then judge each product’s quality based on the reactions of the children interacting with them. Participants complete a questionnaire for each product they test, evaluating them on the basis of sturdiness, desirability, interactive stimulation, and other factors. Products that receive a Seal of Approval from the National Parenting Center have been deemed to be desirable, high quality products that any parent can feel confident of.

The National Parenting Center is authorized to disperse the resulting information to as many parents as possible through whatever means possible. The center has created and maintains interactive systems on their website to allow parents to access the panel of experts that provide information. Parents may also get expert advice from the experts via written transcripts, newsletters, brochures, letters, and the Internet.