Are you involved with your child’s online life? Highlights Magazine and Glubble want to know. That’s why they’re inviting parents to participate in a short poll at Highlights.com.

If you’re like most parents, you want your child to ask permission before they get a snack or ride their bike to a friend’s house. So why shouldn’t they ask permission before visiting any site on the Internet? With Glubble, kids have to ask your permission to visit sites on the Internet.

What’s Glubble?

Glubble is geared to families with children under 12. Think of it like “Internet training wheels.” Glubble offers a safe online place for families where parents can be involved with their children’s Internet usage. By doing this, Glubble hopes parents can teach kids the how to use the the Internet in a positive and safe way.

Also, children are going online at a younger age. My five-year-old is constantly coming to me with requests to go to www dot something or rather and watching Sesame Street videos on YouTube with her dad. With Glubble, parents are able to choose web content for their kids the same way they choose books, television shows, clothes and movies. Glubble makes it easier for parents by packaging over 2500 kid-friendly websites like Discovery Kids or Sesame Street into “glubbles.” Parents can add to this list by easily adding sites they like.

Finally, you can see what Google search terms your children are using. What they’re allowed to search on can be filtered based on parent created lists as well. It’s also a way to find out what they’re researching for school. Think of it as a conversation starter, “So tell me more about your Greek mythology paper. Who’s this Zeus guy anyway?”

How Glubble works

First, you sign up for a FREE family page at Glubble.com and email all the adults you want to participate – mom, dad, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Then like other social networking sites, each adult creates an online profile including screen name and picture. Then the adults adds their children and create a profile for them.

Once the family page is set up, you need to activate the kids’ profiles, by installing the FREE Glubble for Families software. If you use Firefox® as your default web browser you can download the Glubble for Families™ extension for Firefox. If you do not use Firefox® as your default browser we have a conveniently packed Firefox® 3 with Glubble for Families™ extension. (It works for Windows, Linux and Mac based computers.)

You then switch it into kids mode by clicking on the Glubble Lock icon in the browser toolbar or clicking on a child’s profile in your family page. The browser then switches to a full screen mode where your child will not be able to access any other part of the computer without you putting in your family password that is only know to you. Now it’s time to let your child drive.

Use Glubble as a family gathering place

Glubble has features that introduce children to social networking. There’s a calendar to remind them of important dates. And there’s a way to leave each other short messages – sort of like a family-only Twitter site. (Remember, you’re monitoring all activity, so if siblings start squabbling you can put an end to it, even if you’re online in your office. It’s also a great way to share pictures with extended family members like out of town relatives.

Glubble’s social networking features aren’t very advanced. The calendar section uses military time, for example, which could be confusing to kids. It’s fun to leave each other messages, and it’s a good introduction to IMing. However, it’s the monitoring and permission giving features that make Glubble a fantastic tool for parents. So, open an account, set up your family page and get your kids using Glubble TODAY!

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