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Bullying Part Two: The School’s Responsibility
Recently, I posted an article about bullying. I asked if it had changed or if we, as a society, had changed. I think that this is a really complex answer and I don’t believe that it can be addressed with any measure of value in a series of blog entries. Still, this is my platform and bullying hurts my heart in a personal way, so this is my attempt. My family has dealt with severe and powerful bullying on more than one occasion. A few years ago, a little girl at my daughter’s school decided that she didn’t like my daughter. It happens all the time and unfortunately, it’s something…
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Facebook Newsflash: You’re not the Customer
If you use Facebook, you’ve probably noticed that you’re often in a race with the site to make sure your privacy settings remain private. It seems like a constant battle to update, make sure you’ve got all the settings the way they need to be… It can sort of feel like that moment when you’re checking to make sure your skirt isn’t accidentally tucked in your waistband? C’mon ladies – we’ve all had that moment right? Just me? *blush* Okay – let’s move on then. There’s a good reason for that. When it comes to Facebook, you aren’t the customer. You’re not the client. Or the consumer. In this instance,…
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Did you know Facebook has ____________________?
Facebook is an ever changing entity. It seems that just at the point most of us get comfortable with the changes they’ve made, they are at it again. I know that this is a frustration point for many people – myself included. So how can you keep up on what’s happening at Facebook and make sure that your account is as up to date as possible? Did you know that Facebook has a variety of official pages and groups that anyone can join to keep up with the latest updates and news? There’s even several that allow you to vote on prospective changes!
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A Wolf in Kid’s Clothing: Upcoming Trends in YA Fiction
This morning I was looking through catalogs of upcoming releases in Young Adult books. I’ve already been pretty vocal around here on the trends that are happening in YA fiction, so people won’t be surprised to learn that I’m bugged about it. But you might be surprised at what some of the new trends are. Not talking about vampires, demons, fallen angels or other supernatural things. This is something new. I was looking specifically for YA books to review, so I was browsing the teens and young adult sections when I came across a cover that looked more like the poster for Magic Mike than a YA novel and I…
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Why I’m Not a Fan of Twilight Anymore – Part Two
(See Part One here.) Vampires have no choice: The Twilight books started a trend that I find utterly disturbing. You see, the vampires in this series had no choice about whether they should live or die. Many of them don’t want to really be vampires and they live this horrible tortured existence, but they are unable to do anything about it. The choice is out of their hands. They must live this way and for the most part, they’re emo and tortured about it. But Bella makes their lives better. She’s everything that they needed. She rescued them from a difficult and miserable existence. She gave them a baby and peace and hope…
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Why I’m Not a Fan of Twilight Anymore – Part One
Recently, in one of our articles about 50 Shades of Grey, I mentioned in passing that I’m no longer a fan of Twilight. This one sentence got an interesting response with several emails and comments asking me if I’d go into why I made that decision. Before I start, let me say that this was something sent to my heart. I’m not out here beating a drum and telling everyone that they need to heed these words. I’m only sharing what I know and what I’ve learned and asking that people make their own choices once they’ve read what I have to say. A little over a year ago, I was very…