When it comes to fan conventions, it’s not always easy to find the baseline for what’s considered “bizarre.” One of the common elements between most fan conventions is that they’re all a bit strange in their own ways. There are, however, a few conventions that rise above their brethren in terms of strangeness and set the bizarre-bar a bit higher by simply existing.

While these fan conventions are nothing short of bizarre for those that aren’t adherents of a particular fandom, it’s important to remember that strangeness is all a matter of perspective. Whether you’re a Brony that’s eager to talk Pony with a room full of fellow enthusiasts or a Sweet Transvestite itching to do the Time Warp with Frank N. Furter and Magenta, there’s a convention out there with your name all over it!

Modern parents spend a small fortune when time for back-to-school shopping rolls around, making it the second-busiest shopping season in the United States. According to the National Retail Federation, the back-to-school shopping season is second only to the winter holidays in terms of consumer spending, and the projected average amount parents will spend grows with every passing year. As the economy struggles to rebound, fuel prices climb and a record-breaking drought threatens a spike in food costs, parents are forced to save money in any way that they can. These ten tips can help you preserve your budget and still send kids into a new school year with everything that they need.

Make sure that you hold onto school supplies at the end of the year, as there are many items that don’t necessarily have to be replaced every year. Many items that are still serviceable can be reused, even if it requires a bit of personalization to get your kids interested in carrying them again.

Drafting a will is essential in order to ensure that your estate and assets are distributed in line with your wishes. A properly drafted will also helps ensure that court proceedings are concluded in a timely manner, and that disputes of your assets and estate are avoided. It is never too early to begin drafting your will; in fact, the earlier you draft your will the easier it is to keep it updated and fair. These 30 blogs will provide you with all the information you need to draft and keep your will up to date.

Reasons for Creating a Will

Everyone’s reasons for creating a will are different. Simply put, a will protects both your material assets and your loved ones after you pass away. Although a court can distribute your assets if no will exists, they will not necessarily do so in the way you would have wished. Additionally, a will significantly reduces the legal costs and fees associated with distributing your estate and assets.

What You Should Include in Your Will

A will is a legal document, so there are rules that dictate what you can and cannot include. It is also important to consider creating a living will, which is a will that details your wishes should you suffer from sudden, serious injury or illness. Both types of wills should contain specific instructions, which leave no room for misinterpretation.

Avoiding Disputes with Your Will

Disputes usually arise when your executor is not given enough information to deal with your estate and assets. This can include vague or ambiguous language or the existence of other documents that contradict the wishes expressed in your will. These five blogs will help you avoid disputes and ensure that your assets are distributed in exact accordance with your wishes.

Choosing an Executor for Your Will

The person you choose as executor of your will plays a very important role in ensuring your last wishes are met. Not everyone is cut out for the role of executor, however, so it is vital that you discuss your wishes with your chosen executor and allow them to decide if they wish to take on the role. These five blogs go through the duties of an executor, and who is best suited for the task.

How to Make Changes to Your Will

You can change your will at any time throughout your life. However, making changes can be difficult if your will is not planned and created effectively. Allowing for the possibility of changes when drafting your first will ensures that you avoid unnecessary issues in the future.  There are also legal requirements that you must adhere to when making changes to your will. In these five blogs you will find all the information you need on how to keep your will up to date.

Keeping Your Will Safe

Once you have drafted your will, you are going to need to keep it safe. First and foremost, your executor must have access to your will. It is a good idea to create copies, too, in case the original gets lost, stolen or destroyed. These five blogs detail the correct ways to keep your will safe.

Quality web content is a must-have for small business owners and bloggers, and it doesn’t have to be out of reach if you’re not particularly gifted with the written word yourself. There’s a wealth of freelance writer options on the Internet today; there’s even a good chance you have a few in your extended social network. Before you start making arrangements with a freelancer for your content, though, there are a few things you should know.

1. You Have to Know What You Want – A freelancing professional can provide you with the content you want, but only if you’re able to provide right project guidelines. Even the most talented writer will struggle if there are no clear expectations set before work begins. You’ll need to make sure any freelancer you hire has a clear image of what you’re looking for in web content, how you want content delivered and the timetable you have in mind.
2. All Freelancers Have Their Area of Specialty – If you’re in the market for heavily researched academic content, you may not be satisfied if you contract with a writer who specializes in conversational, informal content with a lighthearted tone. When you’re looking over a prospective hire’s sample content, make sure you’re looking for a stylistic match as well as quality. At the same time, don’t immediately discount any writer based solely on a lack of samples relating directly to your business or desired topic. A seasoned professional will be able to research and author content on a variety of subjects and in more than one voice, but a niche author may not be ideally suited to your project.
3. Ghostwriting Versus Bylines – Typically, a professional freelancer will charge a bit more for ghostwritten content, which helps to establish you as an authority in a particular area. You may be able to negotiate a lower price if you’re willing to provide valuable exposure to your freelancer in the form of a byline, though. If you’re looking for guest post content, for instance, you may not need to pay ghostwriting fees. Think about what you need and the size of your budget before deciding one way or another.
4. Freelance Writers Aren’t Advertising Executives – A professional freelancer will provide you with great content, whether it’s a single blog post or a full set of copy for your entire website. What they won’t do, typically, is design your website, your logo or spearhead your marketing campaign. There are exceptions for every rule, but for the most part, if you’re hiring a freelance writer, you won’t be getting graphic design, or a brand strategist.
5. Look for SEO Experience – Unless the content you’re planning to purchase will not be used as web copy, you need to make sure the writer you hire has at least a basic understanding of search engine optimization, or SEO. Proper keyword placement and applying SEO best practices can make all the difference in terms of traffic to your site.
6. Cut Rates Aren’t Always a Bargain – While there’s nothing wrong with getting your money’s worth when you hire a freelance writer, you should understand that bargain basement rates don’t always translate to a great value. Experienced writers with established businesses can command a higher price per word, and won’t usually accept content mill rates. You don’t have to break the bank to get acceptable content, but you won’t get great work for free, either.
7. Look Beyond Local – If you’re accustomed to hiring independent contractors you can meet face-to-face and interview in person, even for short-term projects, it can be a bit unsettling to cast your net wider for freelance writers. The best fit for your project may not live in your city, or even in your country. Don’t limit your options by restricting the hiring pool to local writers; you may find exactly what you’re looking for on the other side of the globe.
8. Get Familiar With Online Staffing Platforms – There are many ways to find freelance writers, but one of the most common and most reliable for those new to hiring writers is the online staffing platform (like guru.com). These sites allow writers to build ratings and reviews, then to bid on projects posted by hiring companies. You’re able to review samples and feedback from previous clients before setting up an interview, and to get a range of bids on each project. These sites can be safer than free job listing boards, as their policies are designed to protect all involved parties.
9. Communication is Key – Just like any other working relationship, the success of your relationship with a freelance writer is contingent upon your ability to communicate. At the outset of a project, the freelancer you’ve hired should know how you prefer to communicate, how often you’d like progress reports or check-ins, and what your overall vision is for the project at hand. Remember, even the best writer can’t meet your expectations if they aren’t made clear.
10. Contracts and Agreements – Are you planning to share sensitive internal information with your freelancer in order to help them better understand your business? Get a signed NDA (non-disclosure agreement) before those files leave your hands. Working out the details of a long-term project? A written work agreement may be in order. Don’t be afraid to ask for signed contracts to protect yourself and your business. A professional freelancer knows this is par for the course, and will happily oblige.

Hiring a freelance writer doesn’t have to be a stressful situation. Armed with a bit of basic knowledge about how the freelancing industry works, you can make an informed hiring decision and get the content you need at a reasonable price.

On September 9, 2013, following a year of verbal abuse and bullying, 12-year-old Rebecca Ann Sedwick decided that she couldn’t take it any longer. She messaged a friend about her intentions, changed her screen name to “That Dead Girl” and climbed the tower at an abandoned concrete plant and jumped. Her mother told the local newspaper, the Lakeland Ledger: “I never had a clue. I mean, she told me last year when she was being bullied, but not this year, and I have no idea why.”

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 64% of young people between the ages of 12 and 18 have been bullied. In Sedwick’s case, the bullying included verbal taunts, threats and even an incident of physical aggression. When Sedwick sought relief by enrolling in a different school, the bullies simply followed her online, taunting her via text messages and social media.

Cyber-bullying

For as long as anyone can remember, the domain of the bully was a face-to-face encounter in the schoolyard. Today, while bullies might still meet up at school, much of the behavior has shifted to online media. This has changed the nature of the attack, since online abuse can feel relentless. Whenever the victim picks up a text message, reads a tweet or goes online to check a social media site, the bullying can resume. Worse, bullies can amass a huge following. One so-called “drama queen” actually had a following of more than 500 other children.

Online bullying is at epidemic proportions: Consumer Reports estimated that in 2011, 800,000 young people had been bullied on Facebook. If you are a parent or caregiver of a child, it’s time to get the facts so that you can teach your child what to do if he experiences face-to-face or cyber-bullies. The first step is to let them know exactly what a bully is and how to recognize bullying behavior.

What is bullying?

A bully is not someone who engages in a single incident of teasing or horseplay. According to Dan Olweus, bullying has three characteristics: 1) it is intentional behavior, 2) it is repeated over time, and 3) it is characterized by an imbalance of power in terms of physical strength or social status. Examples of bullying behavior include the following: when another student (or several students) insults, harasses, spreads lies or rumors about another child or threatens or physically assaults a peer.

What can you do to help prevent abuse?

When you talk about bullying with your child, make sure that he understands that no one should be the object of repeated teasing, name-calling or ridicule. Talk to him about how bullies target someone, and explain that a bully tries to isolate his victim. The best thing to do when you are being bullied is to get help. As the parent, you are your child’s best ally, but let him know there are many other allies he can turn to, including teachers, guidance counselors and school administrators. All of these adults are trained to intervene.

Of course, the best way to inoculate your child to bullying is to make sure he has healthy self-esteem. Let him know that he deserves respect. Tell him it is never his fault if he’s being bullied; it is always the fault of the bully. Children need help understanding that ignoring the problem usually makes it worse. If they are unable to stop a bully, get help. Bullies have power because they isolate their victims. If the victim gets help, then the bully loses all power. You have to confront a bully to make the abuse stop.

Parents of young children should start early, helping them learn and practice basic assertiveness skills. If someone takes something of your child’s or violates his personal space, teach him to say “no” or “stop doing that.” Children should know that they can set boundaries with their peers.

According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, “Children who express their feelings and needs while respecting those of others will be neither victims nor aggressors.” Help your child identify their feelings and express them through “I” statements. Teach him that he can confront someone who is being controlling or abusive. For instance, “I feel hurt when you take my toy, and I want you to give it back.”

Be cyber savvy!

One of the most important things you can teach your child is to be Internet savvy. Although some bullying starts with a face-to-face conflict, plenty of bullying today begins with incidents of so-called “over-sharing” on social media. Talk to your children about the risks and dangers of sharing personal statements online.

Elizabeth Englander of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center advises parents to ask their children if they think their posts are automatically private. If they say yes, then they need to think again. Even if you set your account to private, it just takes one friend making a screenshot and sending it out to everyone else for your privacy to be gone. Once that happens, you can never get those statements back.

Here’s another mistake: teens often think that their friends will keep their online secrets. Englander has researched this topic extensively. Not only do they not keep secrets well, they are not even thinking about their friends when they break their confidence. Teens gossip to gain status with other teens. It may be shortsighted and impulsive, but it’s also typical teen behavior. Make sure your teen knows that this happens all the time.

And finally, here are two more excellent tips:

• Set a Google alert to your child’s name. If there is any negative material (or any bullying) that pops up online, you’ll be among the first to know.
• Keep up-to-date on the latest apps and sites. It almost goes without saying, but if you don’t understand the technology, there is very little you can do to protect your child.

How can you recognize if your child is being victimized?

Too often parents assume that that their child will tell them if there is a problem when, actually, there is ample evidence to suggest the opposite. Very few children disclose bullying. According to a 2008-2009 School Crime Supplement, two-thirds of the time teens are bullied they never report an incident to anyone, including their parents. This means you need to be watchful. Ask questions of your child and make sure you are looking for problems. Symptoms of possible bullying include the following:

• Your child comes home missing items (books, electronics, etc.).
• Your child avoids school, does not want to attend classes or is unwilling to take the bus. Often these children will use excuses to avoid school (complaints of a stomachache or sickness).
• He appears injured (cuts and bruises).
• He has few, if any, friends (socially isolated).
• He has trouble in school, appears disinterested and/or receives poor grades.
• He appears sad or depressed when he comes home.
• He has trouble sleeping or suffers from bad dreams.
• He appears anxious and suffers from low self-esteem.

If your child displays any of these symptoms, talk to him and get help. Reach out to school administrators and work with them to help your child. Find a therapist for your child to talk to. If it appears that he is being victimized, consider taking away his cell phone and limiting his social media use. He may not be able to handle the pressure he’s receiving from peers.

How can you tell if your child is bullying others?

Of course, it is just as important to recognize if your child is the bully. Bullies (especially online ones) may look strong and competent, but in reality they also suffer from depression and low self-esteem. Here are some warning signs that might alert you if your child is the bully:

• He’s confrontational and prone to physical or verbal fights.
• His friends are known as bullies.
• He’s known among siblings as a bully or aggressor.
• He has discipline problems at school.
• He doesn’t act empathetically towards their peers.
• He’s excessively worried about popularity, looks and/or reputation.
• When he does get into trouble, he doesn’t take responsibility for his actions.

If your child displays these behaviors, get help. There is every reason to worry as much about a bully as those that are bullied. Take these symptoms seriously and involve professional help.

Moving forward

One final piece of advice: the best way to teach your child anything is to model the behavior yourself. Demonstrate tolerance to your children, show them that you respect others and let them know you are willing to listen. If you see bullying, step in and set a limit. Let your children know what you did and why. Over time, you’ll learn together how to combat bullying, avoiding tragic fates that plague so many other kids.

Parenting has changed drastically in the past decade. Instead of dinner bells ringing children home, they now have cell phones. Social media has become an obsession and a favorite past time. With the changes in technology, changes in parenting become necessary.

You can keep your child safe in the social media age with a few tips to help you stay up to speed with today’s technology and your child’s plugged-in world.

Learn the Technology

First and foremost, for parents to be able to help, it is important that they understand how technology works and accept that technology is a big part of young people’s lives, says Silje Vallestad, CEO and founder of Bipper, a mobile safety app company. As cyber bullying situations continue to increase, parents must know how to operate and monitor apps, social media networks and various technology to ensure that their children are acting appropriately and that they are treated respectfully in what is a 24/7 public environment.

“For kids today, being stripped of their access to the social communities and technology in general is considered so bad that they won’t ask for help or tell parents about negative experiences,” says Vallestad. “Parents need to understand that there is a difference between the digital childhood of kids today and their own upbringing, and that access to technology is as important as access to paper and pens.”

Although social media is extremely important to your child, it doesn’t mean they should have full reign of the technology. “Parents should never grant kids access to technology without guiding them in the world of technology and to be able to guide their kids, they need to understand technology and online services,” says Vallestad. “I believe in parents spending time educating themselves, combined with frequent conversations between parent and child about the use of technology in general and use of specific services in particular.”

Use Technology to Bond with Your Child

Monitoring your child’s social media use does not have to be a negative experience, wherein you are acting the part of a spy. Use technology as an opportunity to learn something new from your children and brush up on your own skills. Vallestad, the mother of three kids all using technology, says she uses mobile app alerts that provide information on which social media applications her children are downloading.

“When I see that they have installed apps I either don’t know much about or that I’m worried about (such as SnapChat or Instagram), I make a point of having a good conversation about these services,” she says. “They teach me a lot about technology and the services while we talk about how things can be used for good or bad.”

These conversations can help to create trust between a parent and a child and allow opportunities to talk about how technology can be used to harm others and how to react in those situations. “With our frequent talks on tech, where I show that I’m both interested and involved in their digital lives and also allow them to use technology, I believe we have fostered an atmosphere where they will feel safe to tell me if something bad is happening,” says Vallestad.

Have a Plan of Action

As you are learning the technology, it’s important to remember the top three actions to take when your child is engaged in social media, according to Vallestad.