Ryan Halligan of Essex Junction, Vt., was just 13 when he committed suicide. The victim of vicious bullying, Ryan endured years of humiliation by his peers, both in the classroom and online. Despite a loving family, the humiliation proved to be too much for Ryan, and he took his own life.

Ryan's father, John Halligan, visited Bethlehem's Nitschmann MS recently to share his son's story. Before an auditorium of attentive students, he slowly introduced Ryan. A slide show of photos from throughout Ryan's 13 years played. It was easy to see that Ryan was just like the students in the auditorium, a middle school kid who loved his family and friends and who was loved by his family and friends.

After the slide show, John Halligan took to the stage to encourage the students to never feel like suicide is the only way out.

"You are all loved beyond belief," he said. "I guarantee that there is at least one person in each of your lives who loves you."

He described his desperate search for answers in the days following Ryan's death. Pouring through Ryan's online accounts, he discovered that the bullying had been far worse than Ryan had ever mentioned to his family.

Ryan had been taunted mercilessly by a specific bully who spread terrible rumors about him. Later, a girl Ryan had a crush on, pretended to want to be Ryan's girlfriend. Over the summer between his seventh and eighth grade year, Ryan and the girl exchanged sweet and romantic messages online.

Yet when school started in the fall, the girl told Ryan that she had made it all up. She called him a "loser" in front of his classmates and sent Ryan's private messages out to the other students in an effort to humiliate him.

That humiliation proved to be too much for Ryan to bear. Shortly thereafter, on a business trip away from home, John received the call that Ryan was dead.

Remembering that day, and all the difficult days after, Ryan's father told the students that he is sure that if Ryan could tell them anything, he would say that killing himself was a terrible mistake.

"He's gone forever," he said. "There is no coming back."

He encouraged the students to talk to their parents and teachers about bullying and to think before they do anything that might hurt another student.

John Halligan has presented Ryan's story to thousands of students throughout the nation. He tirelessly crusades against bullying by visiting as many schools as he can. In addition to his presentations at schools, John worked hard to pass Vermont's bullying prevention law, which holds schools accountable to prevent and stop bullying.

No school district is immune to the type of bullying that Ryan experienced. A 2009 U.S. Department of Education Study found that bullying and harassment affects nearly one in every three American students between the age of 12 and 18.

Here in Pennsylvania, Senator Bob Casey has unveiled a bi-partisan anti-bullying in schools bill, "The Safe Schools Improvement Act." The law would require school districts in Pennsylvania and across the country to develop and implement anti-bullying policies.

"With the advent of text messaging, social media, and social networking, many children find they cannot escape the harassment when they go home at night," said Casey in a press release issued this month. "It follows them from the moment they wake up until the moment they go to sleep. This legislation will ensure that school districts across the country take proactive steps to combat bullying and protect children."

Sadly, new legislation cannot bring Ryan back, but it can make a difference in the lives of children today. Awareness is the first step to making change. Despite the tragedy of his son's death, John Halligan takes comfort in the fact that Ryan's story may save the life of another.