‘I beg you to ask for help’: Penn Middle School speaker talks bullying, mental health support

Standing on the Penn Middle School auditorium stage, John Halligan looked out at more than 500 students, many of whom reflected the same youthful innocence as his 13-year-old son, Ryan, who died by suicide in 2003.

Just as Halligan has done for the past 18 years — for about 1 million students across 2,400 schools — he told Penn Middle the story of Ryan’s death. Halligan hoped to reach even one student, yearning to prevent every parent’s nightmare: the loss of a child.

“When you’re in this world, you don’t want anybody else to be a part of this club,” Halligan said. “It’s just too much. So we’re always about prevention.”

The mental health of students and teachers has come to the forefront of education since the pandemic. State grants are allowing schools to provide greater access to mental health counselors and offer more social- emotional learning opportunities in the classroom, said Penn- Trafford School District counselor Suzie Schrinel.

Penn Middle provides counselors and a Student Assistance Program to help students who are struggling. Penn-Trafford also partners with Safe2Say Something, a helpline where students can anonymously report incidents such as bullying or threats.

Safe2Say Something is mandated in school districts across the state by the Pennsylvania General Assembly as of January 2019. In the 2022-23 academic year, the helpline addressed more than 31,000 reports — the highest number received to date, according Brittney Kline, its program director.

Reports related to students’ physical and mental well-being were up last year by more than 20% from 2021-22.

Penn Middle’s principal, Jim Simpson, knows bullying happens among his students. He knows students might come to school with anything but learning on their mind.

“People can sometimes think that people like me don’t care about those things,” said Simpson, who has been a principal for more than 20 years. “It’s actually the most important thing I do. Algebra, English, science — that’s all very important, but the most important thing is (to) make sure children are here and ready to learn.”

To bring the topics of bullying and mental health to light, Simpson and Schrinel arranged for a visit from Halligan in October.

Halligan told students about Ryan’s experience with bullying — how Ryan was picked on, had rumors started about him and had a girl fake romantic feelings for him the summer before he died. The story has been shared on national television in interviews with Diane Sawyer and Oprah Winfrey.

But bullying was not the only factor that led to Ryan’s death, Halligan said.

“I believe, in the end, my son died of an illness — an illness called depression; an illness that for Ryan’s sake tragically went undetected and untreated; an illness that I believe came about from a bunch of these bullying events that started way back in the fifth grade,” Halligan said.

In her first year as a counselor at Penn Middle, Schrinel has seen more students diagnosed with anxiety or depression than she saw over the past six years as a teacher in another district. Students and parents often report instances of bullying that happened over social media or messaging platforms, she said.

“Especially when it comes to Snapchat and TikTok, kids tend to say whatever they feel that they can,” Schrinel said, “and those are definitely not things that they would say in person, so it gives them that anonymity in a way.”

She hopes Halligan’s presentation changes the way students think about the messages they send online.

“Seeing how it would affect a family brings home that even though you are saying what you want, it’s affecting other people and it’s not just that single child,” Schrinel said.

Increase in reports

The Safe2Say Something helpline cost nearly $2 million last fiscal year. It is run by the Office of the Attorney General and Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit that seeks to create safe schools and communities through intervention programs. Sandy Hook Promise was created in response to the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in which 20 students and six staff members died.

Reports can be submitted to Safe2Say Something online, via the mobile app or by calling 1-844-723-2729. The helpline’s crisis center staff, based in Harrisburg, assesses each report.

The reports are sent to the school district’s administrative officials, Kline said, but reports that have an immediate impact on student safety are also sent to relevant emergency personnel.

“Now more than ever, young people need an outlet to report concerns, and that correlates with the number of reports coming into Safe2Say channels,” state Attorney General Michelle Henry said via email. “More students are using this tool than ever before, and they are talking about a range of different concerns and issues.”

Westmoreland County saw 1,600 reports last school year, the eighth highest number of reports in the helpline’s system. Vaping and tobacco use reports were most common, but more pressing for school districts were the 240 reports of bullying, 120 reports of self-harm and 110 reports of suicide concerns.

Allegheny County saw the highest number of reports last school year, coming in at nearly 2,500. Bullying accounted for the most reports at 430. Concerns of suicide resulted in 163 reports and self-harm generated 160.

Superintendent Chris Sefcheck said most of the Safe2Say Something reports received by the New Kensington-Arnold School District relate to potential fights and the social and emotional well-being of students.

Assistant Superintendent Jason Lohr said Kiski Area School District may go five days without a tip or receive four first thing in the morning. The middle and high schools receive the most tips, often surrounding tobacco or vape use, he said.

But students take seriously that the district investigates each report it receives, Lohr said.

“That gives us confidence that if they have that belief in the system, if there is something significant … students will actually report that and give us an opportunity to respond,” he said.

‘Ask for help’

As Halligan addressed Penn Middle, he urged students to stand up against bullying when they see it happening and to seek help if the situation is beyond their control.

“I beg you to ask for help. Don’t be embarrassed. Don’t be ashamed,” he said. “You’re not the only person feeling this way. You’re not alone.”

Simpson said he hopes Halligan’s words “derail” bullying — encouraging students to stand up for those who are being mistreated and to seek help from a trusted adult if they themselves are struggling.

“Call us and talk to us,” Simpson said. “Maybe it’s a small thing, but that small thing, like with this boy Ryan, if someone had done some small interventions, maybe that tragedy doesn’t happen.”