Ryan’s Story

All seventh and eighth graders were mesmerized by the presentation of Ryan’s Story.  John Halligan, Ryan’s father, explained the events leading to Ryan’s suicide and shared the message that bullying and cyber bullying are behaviors that can lead to extraordinarily sad outcomes.  He appealed to anyone in the audience who has ever bullied others to apologize to their victim and stressed that the bystander needs to appeal to the bully to change his/her behavior.  Nothing, Mr. Halligan stated, is as devastating as the death of a child.

Mr. Halligan also spoke with parents at a night meeting.  His focus at this meeting was to provide suggestions to parents on how to monitor their child’s cyber behavior as well as being  actively involved if there is any bullying that affects their child.  He provided the information that you can find below. 

Bullying is a horrible act.  Cyber bullying is worse as it does not end when school ‘lets out’ - instead it continues twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.  There is no down time from the aggression. 

Depression, which can be a byproduct of bullying/cyber bullying, is often not recognized in children.  John Halligan spoke about how he wished that he had recognized Ryan’s depression.  There are often signs that accompany depression, so we are providing this information as well.

We hope both students and parents incorporate lessons learned from Ryan’s Story into their lives.   We will follow up with more guidance informational events in the fall.  Be on the lookout for dates and time.  If you have any concerns, please reach out to your child’s counselor or the school social worker. 

Jill Vogel – District Director of Guidance

Link to: Parenting Suggestions Regarding Technology
Link to: Signs & Symptoms of Teen Depression