WE MIGHT hear about cases of cyberbullying on the television and in the national newspapers, and think that it wouldn't happen to anyone we know. But a Holsworthy dad has warned local parents to be on their guard, after his nine-year-old daughter became one of the latest victims of this new form of bullying.

Cyberbullying is when a person or a group of people try to threaten, tease or embarrass someone else by using a mobile phone or the internet.

It is easy, and fairly common, for people to set up a fake profile on one of the many social networking sites, such as Facebook or MySpace and post photos or abusive words.

Former Holsworthy firefighter Don Compton told the 'Post' that his daughter, Milan, missed school after getting upset over hurtful comments she read about herself and her family on Facebook.

The cyberbullying incident came to light after a fake Facebook profile was set up in Don's wife Yvonne's name.

A photo of Yvonne, that was taken during a recent Children in Need event, had been taken from another source and used on the fake profile.

The 'fake' Yvonne sent a friend request to Milan, who accepted without question, as she thought that her mum had joined Facebook.

When she clicked onto the fake profile, it was then that she saw the malicious comments.

As well as a couple of photos of Yvonne and Milan, there were also a number of derogatory comments about members of the Compton family.

Milan, who is a former Holsworthy Fairy Queen, immediately burst into tears when she saw this and was so upset that she couldn't sleep and was unable to go to school the next day.

Don reported the incident to the police but they told him there wasn't anything they could do about it.

He also emailed Facebook and they blocked the fake profile by Sunday morning, which meant it could no longer be accessed by anyone.

Don said: "They did that to my daughter and she was heartbroken. She didn't go to school on the Friday and was up until 1am.

"It was a lovely picture of her. There were quite a lot of people that were shocked by it."

Don has recently read articles in national newspapers about cyberbullying, but he wanted to let people know that's it's not just happening in the big cities. It has happened in a small town like Holsworthy and it can have a devastating effect on a family.

"You would think it doesn't happen around here but it does. I'm not bothered about them slagging me off but when it's my daughter it's different."

Read this week's 'Post' for the full story.