Info for Parents on Cyberbullying
Ryan Halligan was a sweet, gentle, amicable, industrious and compassionate boy with a terrific personality and a good sense of humor.
As he experienced some developmental delays affecting speech language, and motor skill coordination in his early school years, Ryan received Special Needs Education. By fifth grade, Ryan no longer needed this assistance as he has made good progress. Even so, some fellow students thought he was "slow" and started bullying him. Consequently, Ryan underwent therapy sessions. He made great improvements and by the end of the fifth grade no longer needed the sessions.
Sixth grade is a special challenge for Ryan because his school conducted sixth through eighth grade classes in the same building - Ryan would be around many children who were older and bigger than him. The bullying turned worse in seventh grade - so bad that Ryan did not want to attend school.
Because of the incessant bullying, his dad helped Ryan to develop some fighting skills, so if Ryan was ever physically attacked, he would be prepared. In February 2003, a fight broke up between Ryan and a bully. Although the fight shook Ryan up, he stood up to the bully and so believed that the bully would leave him alone from then on.
Before long, the bullying took a pernicious turn, as Ryan became the target of online taunts and harassment. One boy had bullied Ryan since 5th grade, and befriended him for a short while after Ryan stood up to him in a brawl after school. Ryan, the comedian, shared an embarrassing and humorous moment with his new friend. This information was twisted into a rumor that since Ryan had something done to him, Ryan must be gay. Untrue rumors about Ryan continued to spread and many made cruel comments to him. Ryan was repeatedly sent instant messages from middle school classmates accusing him of being gay, and was "threatened, taunted and insulted incessantly".
A particularly disturbing exchange transpired when a popular girl at school pretended that she liked Ryan in an instant message conversation, and she got him to say some personal, embarrassing things. She later copied and pasted their private IM exchanges and sent this to other people; she thought it was a "joke" - the same "joke" that she had played on many other boys online. Ryan's anguish was overwhelming. This girl and her friends considered it funny to pretend that she liked him in order to get him to say a lot of personal, embarrassing things. She shared their private IM exchanges with her friends and poke fun at Ryan.
In addition to that, Ryan was also communicating with a boy online who was providing Ryan with information about suicide and encouraging Ryan to kill himself. When Ryan told this boy that he was committing suicide, the boy responded: "It's about fu**ing time."
On October 7, 2003, Ryan hanged himself.
Today, kids are armed with technological weapons that are far more effective and reaching than before. Are your children's online reputation and privacy at risk?
Click Here to Get A Free Report of What Your Child is Doing Online!
As he experienced some developmental delays affecting speech language, and motor skill coordination in his early school years, Ryan received Special Needs Education. By fifth grade, Ryan no longer needed this assistance as he has made good progress. Even so, some fellow students thought he was "slow" and started bullying him. Consequently, Ryan underwent therapy sessions. He made great improvements and by the end of the fifth grade no longer needed the sessions.
Sixth grade is a special challenge for Ryan because his school conducted sixth through eighth grade classes in the same building - Ryan would be around many children who were older and bigger than him. The bullying turned worse in seventh grade - so bad that Ryan did not want to attend school.
Because of the incessant bullying, his dad helped Ryan to develop some fighting skills, so if Ryan was ever physically attacked, he would be prepared. In February 2003, a fight broke up between Ryan and a bully. Although the fight shook Ryan up, he stood up to the bully and so believed that the bully would leave him alone from then on.
Before long, the bullying took a pernicious turn, as Ryan became the target of online taunts and harassment. One boy had bullied Ryan since 5th grade, and befriended him for a short while after Ryan stood up to him in a brawl after school. Ryan, the comedian, shared an embarrassing and humorous moment with his new friend. This information was twisted into a rumor that since Ryan had something done to him, Ryan must be gay. Untrue rumors about Ryan continued to spread and many made cruel comments to him. Ryan was repeatedly sent instant messages from middle school classmates accusing him of being gay, and was "threatened, taunted and insulted incessantly".
A particularly disturbing exchange transpired when a popular girl at school pretended that she liked Ryan in an instant message conversation, and she got him to say some personal, embarrassing things. She later copied and pasted their private IM exchanges and sent this to other people; she thought it was a "joke" - the same "joke" that she had played on many other boys online. Ryan's anguish was overwhelming. This girl and her friends considered it funny to pretend that she liked him in order to get him to say a lot of personal, embarrassing things. She shared their private IM exchanges with her friends and poke fun at Ryan.
In addition to that, Ryan was also communicating with a boy online who was providing Ryan with information about suicide and encouraging Ryan to kill himself. When Ryan told this boy that he was committing suicide, the boy responded: "It's about fu**ing time."
On October 7, 2003, Ryan hanged himself.
Today, kids are armed with technological weapons that are far more effective and reaching than before. Are your children's online reputation and privacy at risk?
Click Here to Get A Free Report of What Your Child is Doing Online!
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