Students urged to stand up to bullies

[Guest guest]

(http://www.southtownstar.com/news/927823,050208bullying.article)

Students urged to stand up to bullies

May 2, 2008

By Jim Hook, Staff writer

Halligan begins to tell " 's Story, " then pauses to compose

himself.

The Vermont man has told his story 100 times before, yet it never

gets any easier.

That's because the story he's telling is about , his 13-year-old

son who took his life after years of torment at the hands of a school

bully.

But here Halligan is one recent weekday morning in Alsip, standing in

front of hundreds of teens sitting attentively inside the gymnasium

at Prairie Junior High School.

Like most kids his age, struggled to navigate his way through

the often-confusing world of junior high school.

Never the best student or athlete, carved out a niche with other

students who shared his love of art and humor.

The bullying started three years earlier. was 10 and in the

fifth grade. Physical at first, the bullying soon took to the

Internet, where nasty rumors about him were text-messaged to his

peers and posted on Web sites.

" There were a lot of tearful moments around the dinner table, " he

said. " It's amazing how cruel kids can be toward other kids if they

don't have a certain physical appearance or social status or athletic

ability. "

To fend off the bully, began studying tae bo, a cardio kick-

boxing program.

Halligan even began doing the tae bo with .

" Those are some of the best memories I have of my time with my son, "

he said. " I thought it would be just like in the movie 'The Karate

Kid.' "

But the bullying continued.

rejected pleas from his parents to intervene.

" No dad, I can handle it, " was his response. " Don't embarrass me. "

Then, on the morning of Oct. 7, 2003, while on a business trip in New

York, Halligan awoke to a frantic phone call from his wife, .

" Get home. had killed himself, " she said.

" My life changed forever that day, " Halligan told the students. " My

son, whom I loved more than life itself, was gone. "

Halligan told students he wished he would have gotten involved

despite 's insistence he didn't.

" There's no greater human pain than for a parent to lose a child, " he

said. " No parent should ever have to feel that pain. "

Halligan urged students to remember a couple of things from " 's

Story. "

" Whatever you do, don't stand idly by and let your classmates be

bullied, " he said. " Don't be a bystander. Stand up to the bully and

tell him or her to stop bullying. I know it's a hard choice to make,

but it's the right choice. "

Halligan also told students how much they are loved.

" You are all loved beyond belief, " he said. " Not everyone has the

perfect home life. But there are people in your life who truly love

you.

" Reach out to them, " Halligan said. " Whatever you might think, the

world will not be a better place with you not in it. "

Jim Hook can be reached at jhook@... or .