While violence at schools has long been the most frightening prospect that American students face — and Butler County recently had a few scares of its own — the Seneca Valley School District recently kicked off a series of presentations on another issue of great importance that is negatively affecting students: cyber bullying.

At a time when a large number of students across the nation have reported being bullied via cell phones or online, and some pupils have harmed themselves as a result, Seneca Valley’s presentations can be instructive to parents on how to prevent their children from being bullied or bullying others, and what to do if they find themselves being picked on.

Linda Andreassi, Seneca Valley’s communications director, told attendees at this week’s presentation that 95 percent of teenagers have access to smart devices.

According to Do Something — a global nonprofit dedicated to motivating young people to make positive changes online — nearly 43 percent of youths have been bullied online and 25 percent of them have experienced it more than once. A whopping 70 percent of students have reported witnessing frequent online bullying and 90 percent of them said they have ignored it. However, 68 percent of teens agree that cyber bullying is a serious problem.

Additionally, a study by Wales’ Swansea University involving students from 30 countries found that children and people under age 25 who are victims of cyber bullying are more than twice as likely to enact suicidal behavior.

“These are not the same things we faced as teenagers,” Seneca Valley Superintendent Tracy Vitale said during this week’s presentation, adding that students today face “a constant barrage of negative personalized messages overwhelming their underdeveloped brains,” and that “many of them do not get a break from it, not at school, not at home, not even when they’re supposed to be sleeping.”

While it’s likely that many parents attempt to monitor their children’s social media and smart phone use, this is not as easy to do as, say, limiting the amount of TV a child watches. The existence of small devices with access to unlimited information and our current age’s obsession with constantly being plugged in creates unique challenges for parents.

Although many adults require smart devices for their jobs, parents could also set good examples for their children by limiting their own time on their iPhone, social media or electronic devices.

We encourage parents and students in Seneca Valley to attend the district’s presentations, which include panelists from the state’s attorney general’s office, local courts and various professionals whose work involves youths’ online experiences.

We also encourage other local school districts to conduct similar events.

In a recent editorial regarding school safety, we noted that it presents challenges for students to perform well in school if they don’t feel safe. Likewise, a student’s performance will be affected if their engagement with social media and smart devices is overwhelmingly negative. We must do everything we can to ensure that this is not the case with the county’s students.