Ethel is now available in paperback! Unlike reality stars who have to post nude selfies to get attention, here's a plucky little heroine who has braved unwarranted cyberbullying and stood up for herself in the bravest way possible. Go Ethel! Here's a partial Goodreads review of the book.

"As soon as I started reading this book, I was intrigued. Ethel is no ordinary girl, and she seems to fit in well at school, even with her unusual style and vibrant personality. I liked her right away, and I couldn't stop reading to find out how things would turn out for her."

"I love the diversity in this book, not just of race, but also of culture, social status, and family structure. This book has it all!"

The grammar and writing style are very good. That's always a positive point for self-published novels, which, sadly, often contain numerous typos and grammar errors. Not this book, though. I can tell the author made extra effort in getting it perfect before publication (and chose a skilled editor)."
*** Read More

Here's another story this week about a 10-year-old girl from Canada who found herself targeted by a group of girls at school.

According to CBC News, the mother made a Facebook post stating "a group of girls her age (10 yrs old) created a profile under her name... and have been commenting on (friends) photos telling them to go and kill themselves."

Most parents still don't know what this is, so we'll tell you. It's called an Imposter Profile, a cyberbullying tactic, in which the perpetrator(s) create a fake social media account in the name of the person they are targeting to get everybody to believe the account is owned and maintained by the target.

The article doesn't offer much in the way of resolution to this common tactic, we have an entire chapter dedicated to how to prevent and handle it in Cyberslammed, including when to bring in the school, the police or even the law.

As far as the horrible comment of "Go kill yourself" we have seen that tactic over and over again in cyberbullying as a way for the perpetrator to emotionally destroy someone. In school presentations I've done, I've told kids time and again to mentally prepare themselves for that phrase and to come up with self-talk ahead of time to protect themselves against it.

Here's hoping that little girl will be able to find strength and resilence and that her school will have a cyberbullying policy in place (also included in our book!).

Buy Cyberslammed online or contact me for a signed softcover copy.

Funstagram is the latest free anonymous app available on iTunes that allows you to take a photo of someone without their knowledge or consent and add a ridiculing comment to it.

It's always amazing to me that these apps' designers don't want to believe that people won't misuse their app. (Or they choose not to care.)

In any case, the official description says: "Funstagram! is a hilarious new camera app that lets you bust out some AWESOME FUNNY SOUNDS, take priceless funny photos of your friends, then add the PERFECT CAPTION and SHARE ONLINE! Humiliate your friends (or that random victim across the room) – turn your photos from *yawn* to *GENIUS* - join the PARTY!"

Yet, from an ABC 6 News article, a reporter investigated how it's really being used by teenagers. "Things like, “you look like a pig”, “come out of the closet” and “takes the disabled bus to school” are some of the captions," according to the article.

Parents and educators be aware that Funstagram is yet one more way for a cyberbully to intentionally inflict harm on a target despite what its designers says.

Let's call out this anonymous cyberbullying app out for what it is and start 2017 on a better note.