Tim McGraw has been affected by recent headlines detailing the devastating results of bullying on children and young adults. In response, Tim made a surprise appearance at Grassland Middle School in Franklin, TN, last week. Instead of performing, he spoke to students about how to stop the escalating bullying that seems to be taking place in schools across the nation, joining a growing list of celebrities speaking out after the suicides of Tyler Clementi, Billy Lucas, Asher Brown, Justin Aaberg and Seth Walsh.

According to Nashville's Tennessean newspaper, Tim was invited to speak by his 11-year-old nephew, Jace Jewell, a sixth-grader at Grassland. The country superstar punctuated his speech with a story about the "compassionate and loving" Asher Brown, who committed suicide last month after being taunted by classmates who suspected he was gay. "He was bullied to death," said Tim, who was recently honored at the Men Stopping Violence event in Atlanta. He encouraged the students to help prevent bullying from happening to their friends and classmates by speaking up, walking away and not falling in the trap of becoming a bully.