What a KIDS FIRST! Endorsement Means

• NO gratuitous violence or sexuality;
• NO physical or verbal abuse;
• NO bias in terms of race, gender, culture or religion;
• NO condescension toward children and
• NO unsafe behaviors.

Those titles that receive the highest scores are given an

"All-Star" rating:

Titles that meet or exceed the criteria receive an

"Endorsed Title" rating:

Titles that meet the baseline criteria
but require some extra consideration on the part of the parent or caregiver receive a

"Qualified Endorsement" rating:

Parents and caregivers are assured that every endorsed title has been adult approved and kid tested.

Titles are voluntarily submitted by the suppliers. Independent evaluations are conducted by Juries of more than 300 adult professionals and more than 3000 children. The adult Juror holds an academic degree in child development, education, children's library sciences, or a related field. The child Jurors are recruited by the Adult Jurors. No other single review authority has a comparable representation of so many cultures. For example, since many juries are conducted at schools or day care facilities in the USA where the population may represent over 100 different ethnic groups, KIDS FIRST!® easily obtains feedback from many cultural groups. By assigning five Adult Jurors and five Children's juries (comprising five to thirty children each for videotapes and two to five each for CD-ROMs) from various parts of the US to each title, responses do not represent any singular geographic region. This, combined with well defined baseline criteria and evaluation tools allows for both a quantitative and qualitative score, resulting in a content rating which give parents extensive information to make their own decisions.

The KIDS FIRST!® seal of approval is a certification mark, not a trademark. In order to receive it, a title must meet or exceed baseline criteria including: no gratuitous violence or sexual behavior; no physical or verbal abuse; no racial, gender, cultural or religious bias; no condescension toward children; no unsafe behavior. More than 1400 titles have received the KIDS FIRST!® endorsement to date.

CQCM disseminates information about endorsed titles through its book (The New York Times/KIDS FIRST! Guide to the Best Children's Videos), email newsletter, website, and through presentations at workshops, seminars, conferences and meetings of child advocacy organizations such as PTA groups, Head Start and the National Association for the Education of Young Children as well as to media organizations to public officials from all levels of government.

Note: In some locations on the KIDS FIRST!^® website, you will see status codes for the Endorsement Level:

Y = Endorsed Title

QY = Qualified Endorsement

For More Information, please see kidsfirst.org