What worse talk is there for school administrators than having to explain the signs of suicidal tenancies to teenagers?

It's a reality Brentsville District High School officials grappled with two weeks ago after a string of recent suicides among the student base -- one current student, two transfers, one graduate -- drew tears and concern throughout the community.

Brentsville principal Robert Scott, PhD wrote in an e-mail that he received "hundreds" of e-mails from "concerned parents, religious and community leaders, teachers, principals, and counselors from around Northern Virginia" in the wake of the tragedies.

While most of the messages offered help, sympathy and support of some sort, something concrete still needed to increase interaction with students, especially those considered vulnerable to acting in desperate messages.

"Primarily, we made the decision to enlist the help of parents monitoring Facebook, email, texts, and cell phones," wrote Scott. "Over about a week, faculty, staff, police and counselors reviewed literally thousands of Facebook postings, going line by line in an effort to identify other students who might be experiencing feelings of overwhelming grief, stress, or frustration. It seemed important enough to send a letter out to all parents, reminding them that social networking web sites are an enormous arena for teenage communication, and one we sometimes overlook."

Online monitoring is nothing new to Brentsville. In fact, Scott wrote that students are encouraged to report cyberbullying, which has been on the rise in recent years with the development and advancement of social networking Web sites like Facebook and Myspace. National media outlets and the Obama administration have focused recently on suicides related to bullying, particularly among teenagers who either are gay or perceived to be gay.

"Student bullies need to understand that if I capture an image of a page where clearly threatening or abusive language is used, I print the page and use it as part of the due process/discipline hearing," said Scott. He later added, "We have thousands of students who read sometimes alarming and inappropriate posts. Parents can help, but foremost in addressing the cyberbullies is having students who let an adult know when it's going on - to them or to one of their friends."

During a two-week period this past month inside of the school building, the Brentsville Students Services Team met with students, organized groups for counseling and worked with parents "to be sure that outside resources were available," according to Scott. The administration decided to expand its Signs of Suicide training that is generally taught to freshmen to include the whole student population. Parents could opt their kids out of receiving the lectures if they choose.

The bottom line is to "have a plan to ensure every BDHS student works with a training team in the next month," said Scott. "During training, students view a video, discuss signs of suicidal ideation in their siblings and friends, and then have a confidential opportunity to reach out to a counselor for help."

The Prince William County schools administration supplied trained grief counselors on campus throughout the last month too. According to Scott, he learned "several key issues" that emerged from talking with the counselors.

"Most frequently, the feedback we received focused on helping students reach out to trusted adults when they, or their friends, were experiencing significant depression," Scott noted. "Students should not feel hesitant to find an adult if they're struggling. Similarly, we hope that all students will find a teacher, coach, mentor, parent, or counselor if they feel that one of their friends is at risk."