The inappropriate characterising of young girls by publishers and toy manufacturers that was highlighted in Linda Papadopoulos’ report on the Sexualisation of Children has got out of hand. It is clear that these unrealistic images lead to anxiety and poor self image amongst youngsters contributing to stress, eating disorders and puts pressure on their own sexual behaviour.

Parents have to sit up and take responsibility; schools should also be encouraging and educating parents that turning a blind eye will not make the problem go away. We are constantly amazed at The Learning Bubble about the amount the amount of copy generated by the media, government reports and internet safety ‘champions’ about in-home online safety for kids. Perversely, this is matched by a corresponding apathy by parents, parental school groups and retailers to do anything or make products more readily available that could help solve some of these important issues.

It is good that online safety is soon going to be taught in schools but it might not be a bad idea to run classes for parents first!

Stated, Education Leeds’ e-Learning Strategy Adviser, Peter Fletcher, ‘TLB is a very timely product with the launch this week of the Government’s Internet Green Cross Code aimed primarily at parents of primary school children. In addition TLB’s emphasis on home learning fits in well with the parental engagement agenda which is another focus for schools at the moment. The product has clearly raised a lot of interest and a thirst for more knowledge.’

Appointments with a number of schools have been arranged and Education Leeds have asked TLB to undertake a presentation to their City Learning Centre staff in January 2010.

There’s been a high level of interest here in using technology to engage parents with what their children are up to in and out of school; something we at TLB have always strived towards.

The Learning Bubble’s own recent research study revealed that 22% parents had found their child accessing inappropriate content and a staggering 5% never monitored what their kids were watching at all! So perhaps Dr Tanya Byron and the Government are on to something after all.

Today’s stats from the charity BeatBullying make alarming reading as it seems that there is no hiding place for youngsters. Bullying has always taken place but it in the past was more likely to be confined to the school playground; however, now insidious and cruel young people are creating hate sites and saying things that they probably wouldn’t dare say face to face via social networking sites and instant messenger services on an unprecedented scale (2/3rds of the 2000 children age 11 – 18 surveyed had seen some form of online bullying!).

Parents have to take more control with both the bullies and the bullied. They should discuss openly the consequences of bullying with their kids and keep a more watchful eye on their children’s computer activities to spot any tell tale signs of abuse. Checking what your kids do on the home computer may seem like an infringement of their privacy but how would you feel if your child was responsible for causing a potentially devastating outcome or was at the receiving end of this sort of behaviour?

“The Learning Bubble is ideal for young children who are starting to use the net for the first time.

It differs from most parental control software by setting three time zones. As well as Blocked Time and Free Time, there’s a learning time during which you can block games and programs that might distract your child while doing their homework.

This novel programme earns lots of points for its collection of educational sites for kids and its novel time management.”

(Computer Shopper, December issue out now)

The word is getting out as our media coverage increases and we are rolling out more free trials with both primary and private preparatory school parents. If you belong to a PTA or have children at a school who wishes to participate please contact us.

A year’s free use of TLB is available to all participating parents and a small donation will be made to the child’s school that co-operates with this trial.

Alexander McFadden, Marketing Controller, TLB

Various news outlets have reported that the sudden increase in children coming down with Swine Flu this week coincides with the return of children to school after the summer holidays. One way of helping your kids stay focused on their work is to get some software for your home computer that helps your kids stay on track with their work. Otherwise they will be spending their precious school hours at home emailing, instant messaging or communicating with their mates over social networking sites.

The Learning Bubble’s access to nearly 200 curriculum related web sites and the parental controls that ensure that they only stay working could prove a boon during this disruptive period of their crucial school work. If your kids’ schools have their own learning platforms The Learning Bubble software will still stop them being distracted while working on their school sites too. www.thelearningbubble.co.uk

Here at TLB we recognize that this happens, and that’s why we created TLB Learning Time. We think parents (and their children) will quickly see just how useful it can be. As we said previously, our survey of 300 parents found that 65% of parents want to help block “instant messaging” applications and “social networking” websites. Added to this about the same number of parents (60%) would really like to be able to set specific times for when their children are using the PC for getting things done, and when they can use the PC for more leisurely activities.

During a child scheduled Learning Time they can only visit websites which have been selected by Primary School teachers as being excellent resources for your child’s learning, or websites which you as a parent have deemed suitable for your children.

Added to this, while learning your child can only run the programs you have allowed them to. This is a great way of letting your child use the PC for their homework without having to nag them to get off of Facebook, or to stop playing Solitaire when they should be learning about Vikings.

Our first finding is that more than half of parents (65%) want help blocking instant messaging and social networking sites while their child is doing school work.

Well we can certainly help with that!

If you are looking for a way to ensure your kids are doing what they should be in homework time, and get access to web sites that relate to their school studies, you could do worse than try the Learning Bubble’s new software. Just trial it for a fortnight for free. It’s dead easy to set up and use;  parents can allocate the hours for work and play without any hassle. Has to be worth a try and who knows that homework might get finished a bit earlier without the usual email, instant messages and other distractions with which computers so easily tempt young minds?

The Learning Bubble is more than just parental control software because it comes with free quizzes and hundreds of links to educational web sites that can help your child learn more.

Give it a go!