Nov 17, 2009 7:07 pm US/Eastern
Father Warns NJ School Kids About Cyber Bullying
Reporting
Cindy Hsu
CHATHAM, N.J. (CBS) ―
-
-
John Halligan speaks to students about the dangers of cyber bullying.
CBS
Ryan Halligan took his own life, just weeks after turning 13.
"That's the scary thing about teen suicide, is that they're so young, that they haven't lived life long enough to put this all in perspective," said John Halligan, Ryan's father.
Six years after the tragedy, Halligan visited Chatham Middle School, trying to reach kids before it's too late. He told them how the cyber bullying started in the 5th Grade when his son had trouble with academics and athletics. It turned into rumors that he was gay, and a girl pretending she liked him, to set him up for public humiliation.
"Turns out in the last days of my son's life he went up to a girl at the Middle and he said to her, 'It's girls like you who make me want to kill myself'," Halligan said.
He doesn't preach to the students. He just shares Ryan's story and let's them know you can't be a bystander and just let things happen. Ryan's friends knew he was contemplating suicide, but didn't know who to tell.
Halligan worked to get laws passed in his home state of Vermont for bully and suicide prevention.
"We made it mandatory that in health class they have to now teach the kids what is depression, what are the signs and risk of suicide, what are the available resources in your school or in your community for yourself or for a friend," Halligan said.
"In Ryan's story his friends knew he was contemplating suicide but they didn't know what to do with the information," Halligan said. "He told one of his friends 'Don't tell anybody. Promise me you'll keep it a secret'."
He said parents need to make sure their child has an adult in their life they can turn to. "I think it's important to sit your kid down and say, 'OK, I know at times you'll have a hard time coming to mom and dad so let's make sure you have one other adult, at least one other adult in your life that you can go and talk to if you're in a situation'."
"I get these emails from kids that say, 'You told my story. I feel the way that Ryan felt but you made me think about this some more. I realize i need to talk to my parents more. I need to let them know how much pain I'm in'," Halligan said.
Halligan was scheduled to be at the school Tuesday evening to talk with parents from the area. He said it takes a whole community, both adults and students to make a difference when it comes to cyber bullying.
"I know if he could be here right now he would tell these kids he made tragic mistake, he got way too caught up in who didn't like him versus keeping in focus all the people who loved him most," Halligan said.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
World's Most Useless Facts
Click to enlarge
Blizzard-Like Conditions Bearing Down On Tri-State 7 mins ago 
NJ Governor Freezes Affordable Housing Council 7 mins ago 
Stumble It!
Comments