Ryan Halligan is another name that has come up on multiple websites while I have perused for information about cyber-bullying. Like Megan Meier, Wikipedia actually has a whole page about his suicide. He hanged himself in 2003 at the age of thirteen.
Ryan’s parents, John and Kelly Halligan, have been working ever since to spread the word about what happened to Ryan and to lobby for new laws in Vermont. They have done interviews with PBS Frontline and Oprah Winfrey. Unfortunately, the Oprah video cannot be imbedded into this page.
The bullying started at school and escalated at home through the use of AOL Instant Messenger. According to the PBSFrontline article and Wikipedia, the bullying began as early as 5th grade because Ryan had a learning disability. John said that he told his son to ignore the bully. In the seventh grade, Ryan told his parents he was starting to become friends with one of the bullies. That ended in the bully spreading the rumor that Ryan was gay.
During the summer, the gay rumor continued and Ryan was made fun of over AIM. He did not share with his parents the extent of the instant messengers and e-mails. John also said he did not realize how much time Ryan was spending online. John told PBS: “I have been blown away with how this whole technology has evolved into being a critical part of their social life and their socialization among themselves. It's more than just having a conversation. It's about how they portray themselves, their screen name, to me, that's like what they wear to school…”
Ryan was also chatting regularly with a girl that he liked. When Ryan approached her in school, she told him “look, you’re just a loser…” in front of all her friends. His response was, “It’s girls like you who make me want to kill myself.” The next month, Kelly found her son’s body hanging in his bathroom.
John found out a plethora of information after he started investigate Ryan’s AIM account. He even found out about a boy Ryan was talking to who was thinking about also taking his life. In his PBS Frontline interview, John says: [Kids] are coming home, and they're getting right onto the computer, and the drama continues right into the evening. Nobody is taking a break. And they're acting out and behaving in a way that they would never in person, especially in front of adults. ... There's just no check and balances occurring online.”
Most of the information that I have found about Ryan’s death is through interviews like these that his parents have done to raise awareness of cyber-bullying. The Halligans created a website in Ryan’s memory and it contains an archive of how they are spreading their story through radio, television, and student presentations. It contains resources for schools and other parents. Ryan Halligan’s father has done a lot of reflection about his son’s death and does his part to hope that no one parent will experience what he has gone through.
“I can't blame the computer. The computer and the Internet were not the cause of my son's suicide, but I believe they helped amplify and accelerate the hurt and the pain that he was trying to deal with that started at school and in person in the real world…”
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