Bullies exist and always will, preying on those vulnerable to their attacks.

While that may never change, how one reacts to them is the key to what happens next.That was the message delivered by motivational speaker and educational comedian Keith Deltano on Monday night at Panther Valley High School.The winner of a teaching excellence award, Deltano held a parent workshop titled "Bullyproof Your Child.""Social media and the 24/7 media world we live in has changed things when it comes to bullying," Deltano said. "Kids are cutting themselves, committing suicide, and when it comes to a lot of the abuse, it's avoidable if we monitor and filter their phones and technology."Giving many tips highlighted on his website,

www.dontbullyonline.com, Deltano said he uses the online service NetNanny to control what his children are able to access online."We have to use technology to fight technology," he said. "I'm not an anti-technology guy. When you have a child that's 12 or 13 years old, they don't have privacy. If you don't control the technology, it can really hurt our kids."When a bullying situation happens, he said, don't call the other parent.Instead, get specific information from your child and coach a nonemotional response."Bullies look for an emotional reaction," he said. "If they don't get it, they move on."While adults have the ability to compartmentalize and look at other positive areas of their life when something goes wrong, children don't share that trait unless you teach it to them, Deltano said."When a kid breaks up with their significant other, it feels like the world is going to end for them," he said. "It takes an adult to show them the positive things in their life and the different things they are good at."Speaking to a crowd of around 30 people, which was sprinkled with parents, Deltano spoke of how a child is molded at a young age.Kids, he said, morph what their parents do."If you make racist comments, don't be surprised if you get a call from the school about your child," he added. "If you only hang out with white, middle-class people, don't be surprised if your child can't make friends outside their group."One of the first keys to making a child less attractive to bullies, he said, is to find something in which they excel.Deltano's son, for example, took dancing lessons and was good at ballet."When kids know they are good at something, it gives them confidence," he said. "Confident kids don't get picked on because that vibe of confidence is projected from them."The St. Luke's Miners/Panther Valley School District Adopt a School program sponsored Deltano's presentation."I thought it was very informational," said Sheila Thomas of Nesquehoning after the event. "(Keith) had humor but his messages were important. As parents, we can't always keep our children from being bullied, but I liked how he talked about the response and how key that is."One bit of advice he gave to parents Monday night included making sure children know how to react when something bad happens."We're in a world where we are giving kids trophies for getting out of preschool," Deltano said. "I spoke at a school where they took the swings down because kids might get hurt. The problem is when they get to later ages and something bad happens, it's the first time that has happened to them and they don't know how to handle it."Earlier in the day, Deltano spoke to seventh- and eighth-grade Panther Valley students during an assembly. He was scheduled to do the same Tuesday for high school students.