Assembly Educates West Essex Middle School Students About Bullying

Motivational speaker John Halligan of Vermont spoke to three assemblies at West Essex Middle School Oct. 9, 2012 about bullying. Halligan's son Ryan committed suicide on October 7, 2003 when he was 13 after he was bullied in school and online by other middle school students. The father recounted "Ryan's Story"-all about his son's life from his birth to his death, focusing on the problems he had with bullying the last few years of his life. "We have no doubt that bullying and cyber bullying were significant environmental factors that triggered Ryan's depression," he said.

Halligan blames "the whole system" for his son's death and notes "something had to happen in response to this tragedy."

"We decided to take all this intense pain and channel it into productive areas to help other young people avoid the same fate as our son," Halligan said. He was involved in a bully prevention law in Vermont and told West Essex that New Jersey has one of the most stringent anti-bullying laws in the country.

After speaking to two student assemblies, students were asked to fill out questionnaires about what they learned from the program. Halligan also made a presentation to parents in the evening.