<p>Yes, I agree that they had to know that it would cause pain and humiliation, and would want to have the roommate ridiculed. How did the perp plan on living with this guy after the video? Of course I have terrible sorrow for the victim. However, it is hard to see 18 year olds as hardened criminals. They are the age of some of my own kids friends, and it is easy to look at them as really stupid, but not evil. I guess it is easy for stupidity to turn into evil. When kids start out excluding others because they are “different” or not “cool” I suppose it can cascade into anything. </p>
<p>Part of the Holocaust curriculum in NJ is supposed to teach tolerance etc. I guess it is not enough. How to teach basic decency???</p>
<p>This is chilling. I was just going to start a thread about it and wondered if this was about the same story. Throw the book at 'em. They are old enough to know right from wrong.</p>
<p>“The roommate was probably tired of being kicked out of the room”</p>
<p>According to the perpetrator’s own posts, the victim “asked” for the room for 2.5 hours (not all night). We can be pretty confident that if the perpetrator felt he had been “kicked out,” he wouldn’t have used the word “asked.”</p>
<p>“Does it make it more of a crime because it led to the kid’s suicide?”</p>
<p>If so, it wouldn’t be the first time a crime was measured by the harm to the victim. If you shoot someone, and a quick medical response saves him from death, that’s not murder. If the medical team takes too long to arrive, all of a sudden, the same act becomes murder.</p>
<p>I think this is another example of how important it is that schools start teaching appropriate choices regarding technology. Regular activities should be mandatory for children grade one and up. A lot of poor decisions are made when immature kids use technology to be “funny.” </p>
<p>Now, I don’t think the regular instruction will stop it, but I do think it might help many young people think before they secretly videotape someone, or take an embarrassing photograph of a friend and then immediately posting it on a social networking site, or using someone’s photo and creating a fake profile for someone that negatively portrays them. Technology has made it too easy to ruin someone’s reputation with a click of a button.</p>
<p>I teach a high school technology class and we do debate these issues using real life examples, which will include this incident. I find that most of the kids are thinking and don’t find these stunts funny, but I do get a number of excessively immature boys who think it is funny and that the “victims” are taking things too seriously. I think these kids would really benefit from yearly activities stressing the importance of netiquette. I also think these kids would benefit from having parents who didn’t always bail them out of trouble and make excuses for them.</p>
<p>Correct, bchan. As I was one of the poster’s making the “suggestion” that the un-welcome sex show in my dorm room would likely stop when the camera came out…let me say that my comment would have been made about any sex act. Whether it was hetero-sexual or homo-sexual sex would not have entered into the equation. </p>
<p>I don’t see how the two situations equate at all. One, I’m in my room being subjected to something I choose not to be subjected to, and in the other… I’m not. </p>
<p>In the horrific instance discussed here, to allow the “privacy” and then surreptitiously broadcast your roomie is pretty slimey, clearly illegal, and just plain despicable on many levels. The two idiots should be (and it sounds like they will be) prosecuted for their wrong-doing. </p>
<p>Manslaughter? IMO based on the facts presented, that might be a tough one to make stick but I’m not familiar with New Jersey law. </p>
<p>My heart goes out to the victim’s family and friends.</p>
<p>I agree that if your roommate is having sex in the room while you are there, *threatening *to film it might be useful; but actually filming it might have consequences beyond what you would want to deal with.</p>
<p>Hunt - regarding filming comments on previous posts, it was clearly joking and, as you rightly point out, probably not a good idea - but I do want to point out that the other post about sexiling roommates included numerous instances of roommates having sex with others present - and not being shy about it. There really isn’t a comparison between the two situations.</p>
<p>In the Rutgers case these two will have a very hard time defending themselves in court - I think the boy got the worst of it because he is the roommate and he gave consent for the roommate to have the room to himself, therefore creating the expectation of privacy. Hidious betrayal of trust.</p>
<p>What is wrong with these “children”? How do they not have any concept of right and wrong? I am so tired of children and teens getting a pass for self centered, thoughtless behavior. This doesn’t spring from nothing, this kind of callousness grows over time when parents, peers, school administrators don’t rein in or punish these little monsters before they turn into big monsters.</p>
<p>This story was linked to other stories of bullying gay students, even younger who killed themselves. So sad. It made me just freeze when I started to hear about this student on the news and didn’t breath until I heard them say he was dead, hoping it wouldn’t end that way. I can’t imagine his parents pain, “maybe” others will learn how trying to embarass and harass others isn’t just a laugh for themselves, but I doubt it.
one other recent death
<a href=“華容小說-全網最快更新小說繁體小說網”>華容小說-全網最快更新小說繁體小說網;
<p>While these two 18-year-olds are not hardened criminals (yet), they are well on their way to white collar crime if they get away with this or receive a sentence that does not involve some jail time. This wasn’t a prank, it was vicious. The law will take its course, but I was dismayed to learn that Rutgers does not consider this an expulsion offence. A college education is a privilege, not a right.</p>
<p>So very, very sad. Bchan, I agree with you; if only someone could’ve had 5 minutes with this kid to talk through all the ways he could get beyond the horrible, excruciating humiliation and embarassment of the moment. One can always start over and get away from an incident like this…unfortunately, this poor boy must’ve felt he could never get away from it. I just feel so sad for him. And, as a mom, I can’t stop thinking of his mother and the anguish she must feel. Awful.</p>
<p>This is the second thread started by the OP about a person who died-- Nothing amusing about this one or the segway owner. Rather insensitive, IMO.</p>
<p>Actually I did not know about the death when I first posted this. The other was kinda funny in an ironic way. But I never ran under the most sensitive ticket.</p>
<p>^ I think even if the university did allow these kids to stay, I highly doubt they will do so. How can they walk on campus knowing that their stupid move led to humility and eventually suicide? </p>
<p>There are some kids here who have stated that if they knocked into any of the two students that they would harass them (someone even said violence), although I don’t think that would be the best way to go about confronting these people. No one should confront anyone. That is not helping the situation at all.</p>
<p>Note: just viewing the tape is a crime, according to NJ law.</p>
<p>Just tragic! If you’re upset at being continually sexiled, then just say no! If you filmed and broadcasted the encounter to embarrass the roomie, then that is SOOO wrong!! I’m sure no one thought it would lead to suicide…</p>
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