At first glance, Gene Gardner might seem an unlikely guy to lead the
charge for better parenting.
The 69-year-old retired Procter & Gamble engineer admits he put his
career first and "wasn't that much of a parent" when his own two
children were young. They turned out fine, he says, mainly because his
wife, Mary Kay, did a great job raising them.
But Gardner didn't know then what he knows now - that the first 18
months of a child's life are crucial for brain development and have a
profound impact on future success.
That revelation spurred the College Hill resident to start a
nonprofit organization five years ago, based in Blue Ash, called Every
Parent's Library, or EPL. Its goal: help improve parenting skills by
putting high-quality, instructional videos and DVDs into the hands of
parents in the 10-county area of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana that
surrounds Cincinnati.
He knows of no program like it elsewhere in the country.
"We think we can empower parents to really make a difference in
raising better kids that are more competent, respectful, healthier, and
so on," Gardner says.
Parents pay a one-time enrollment fee of $20, which entitles them to
view any video in Every Parent's Library. Currently, there are 30 titles
in the collection, each carefully selected from among thousands of
parenting videos.
A volunteer calls to recommend a video and mails it to parents. They
have a week to view it. The volunteer then makes a follow-up call to get
reactions and answer any questions, and parents mail the video back. EPL
pays all postage.
Think of it as the parenting version of Netflix, without the monthly
fee.
To date, EPL has acquired videos for expectant and new parents of
children up to age 2.
Those videos cover 28 topics, such as preparing for baby's arrival,
breast versus bottle feeding, and nutrition.
Eventually, the collection will expand to include topics relevant to
parents of older children, up through the teen years. (Because those
videos aren't available yet, the program is enrolling only parents with
children up to age 1.)
VIEWERS SHARE TIPS
Members give high marks to the program, which began providing videos
in 2004.
The videos are "short, they're to the point, and they're very
informative," says Linda McCarroll, a grandmother of 11 from
Williamsburg in Clermont County. She bought a membership so she could
watch and discuss videos with her daughters-in-law.
Spring Starr Pillow and her husband, Nick Allen, of Price Hill have
watched about two dozen EPL videos since their first child, Eli Delaney
Allen, was born last December. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the
best, Pillow rates most of the videos a 4 or 5.
Given their busy schedules - she's an actress and vocalist and he's
an educator and massage therapist - they like the program's convenience.
"I'll still call Nick's sister, who's a nurse, and my mom is a
doctor, so I talk to them about things. But it's nice to have
information in front of your face, on the television screen."
Among her favorite videos was one that emphasized the importance of
reading to a young child. It suggested keeping a list of words by a
toddler's bed, with pictures next to the words so the child can start to
relate to them.
"This is a wonderful resource," says Catressie Watson of
Madisonville. She and her husband, Marcus, have a 22-month-old toddler
and three older children, 15, 12 and 8.
Catressie has watched 15 videos on topics ranging from dental health
to toilet training. A video on self-esteem, although aimed at younger
ages, has proved helpful for parenting her older children, she says.
A day-care provider, Catressie says she passes along pertinent
information from the videos to the parents of children she cares for.
BUILDING A VIDEO VILLAGE
There was a time when parents got most or all their information from
their extended family, who typically lived close by. Today, families are
scattered about, and a plethora of parenting books, magazines and Web
sites have sprung up.
"It's important to have a variety of ways to reach parents," says
Sandy Keiser, community education specialist for Catholic Social
Services of Southwestern Ohio, and a member of the EPL advisory board.
"This is one more option in terms of learning about parenting."
Despite the multitude of materials available, many people don't seek
out information, Gardner says. He believes videos are useful because
they're suitable for parents of any education level.
Certainly Gardner is well-educated, but he knew nothing about infant
brain development until listening to an audiotape of Hillary Rodham
Clinton's book "It Takes a Village."
He learned scientific studies have shown that stimulating babies'
brains through talk, touch, music and the like leads to happier, better
adjusted people later in life.
Fascinated, Gardner began contacting professionals who work with
children. They told him parenting skills were declining.
He gathered a team of professional advisers, developed a business
plan, recruited a board of directors and formed Every Parent's Library
in 2001.
Picking from among 65,000 parenting videos was no small task.
First, EPL tapped respected national groups and 30 local agencies to
arrive at a list of relevant topics. Then, dozens of volunteers, many of
them professionals with expertise in the selected topics, searched for
and selected videos to address those topics. Child-care professionals
made the final recommendations.
EPL has spent nearly $12,000 to acquire its collection, and most
videos were bought at a considerable discount, Gardner says. About half
the money came from individual donors; the rest came from foundations.
Now, EPL's focus is on getting more parents to join.
It is broadening its outreach by lending sets of videos to Family
Service of the Cincinnati Area.
"What we're trying to do is help our community in a really big way in
the long term," Gardner says.
That from a retired engineer who now understands one of the most
important jobs is that of parent. |
