Hello, Friends

“CONGRATULATION, AP PUBLISHERS!”

It’s been 30 years since Dr. Michael Popkin introduced Active Parenting, the world’s first video-based parenting education program. Since then he has adapted separate programs for various aged children, all of which include: non-violent discipline, mutual respect, open communication, and proactive risk prevention.

In 1983 I was living in Japan and noticed the AP advertisement in a counseling magazine. We returned to the U.S. in 1985 for our daughter Kathy’s wedding.

During that time I took the opportunity to preview the AP program and LOVED IT! I took a kit back to Japan and began sharing it with some English-speaking friends that fall.

By Spring 1986 I had held groups for people from several countries and realized the ideas and skills in AP could definitely benefit any parent. By then I really wanted to get AP into the Japanese language. Accomplishing that was not easy, but through the cooperation of many talented people, we did it.

CONGRATULATIONS ON 15 YEARS, TOSHIKO SAN!

Because of you trainers and leaders, with the guidance of Mrs. Toshiko Nonaka, it is still being introduced to Japanese families these years later, in 2013.

Recently I read about Mrs. Rose Gilbert, a high school teacher, who has just retired after 63 years. The really remarkable fact is that Mrs. Gilbert is 94 years old! She said, “I looked in the mirror and said, ‘I better do it (retire) now before I get too old.’” She had wanted to be a teacher since the first grade when she was inspired by the teacher who taught her to read and write.

Now that she is retired, she has plans for volunteer work at a health clinic and a domestic violence shelter. She will also interview young people for the scholarships she plans to give out, using the money her wealthy husband left her. She said, “I have loads of energy. I want to devote it to good causes.”

Whether our job is teaching children in the classroom or teaching better parenting styles, it is all valuable work. Most of us won’t be able to continue as long as Mrs. Gilbert did, but the important thing is having similar enthusiasm and a sense of its importance while we can do it.

Congratulations to each of you in APJapan for your part in passing on the AP principles to the families in your area and all around Japan.

June Seat, Founder & Friend, APJapan