<p>@ BIGeastBEAST: I think a lot of people are quick to judge, not just me. Only time will tell if more information related to incidents spills out. </p>
<p>I think why I’m so quick to judge and furious about the act that the two did is because I know what is like to feel humiliated. I was picked on in middle school and ridiculed by these group of boys when I was in 6th grade. I was timid and never spoke. I looked at the ground whenever I walk (I still do this). To have people laugh in your face, attempt to trip you in the hallways and stairs several times, and call you out loudly in front of everyone in the hallway at every given moment when you encountered them is not a good feeling. </p>
<p>I was not humiliated as bad as Tyler was nor was the situation I had was as bad as Tyler, but I still felt uncomfortable and felt like I had no one to turn to. There were times during that period that I thought so much about dying because I couldn’t take it anymore.</p>
<p>So if you want to say I have skeletons in my closet, then there you go. You’re the first to hear about it because my parents and people around me still don’t know what I endured when I was 11. It still affects me to this day. </p>
<p>Maybe that’s what happened to Tyler. His feelings from past events were re-fueled by this recent incident.</p>
<p>Before, when you were bullied, you were taught to fight back and punch the bully in the nose.</p>
<p>Now they teach you to curl up in a fetal position and take more abuse. The first time this happened (with the webcam), Tyler should have dropped the roommate. I doubt he would have tried it again after catching a beating.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, he was probably scared to do something like that, because he would have been kicked out of school, put in counseling, and treated like he was a danger to society.</p>
<p>It’s sickening. Society has collectively lost it’s marbles.</p>
<p>@Big – For once, I’ll agree with you. When I was bullied in middle school I remember a day in PE where we were forced to go over the code of conduct for the school and we got to the part about fighting where we’d be suspended for any reason if physical violence occured (which is hillarious by the way because whenever I reported it nothing ever came of it but the one time I PLAYFULLY made strangling motions at a kid whom I thought was my friend everybody went into a *****ing tizzy) I asked the teacher/admin who was talking to us if that meant that if about 3 kids cornered me I just had to take the beating and she told me yes, if I punched them back even if it meant I could escape, I’d be suspended. Suffice it to say, I didn’t like Bret Harte Middle School very much.</p>
<p>Interesting point - The authorities also need to investigate how the school itself handled Clementi’s complaints how that may have contributed to his suicide.</p>
<p>Gosh when I read this article I wanted to throw up. Absolutely disgusting. </p>
<p>I am praying for Tyler’s family - I hope that they can find console during this difficult time. I hope that Ravi and Wei are jailed for many years. Yeah, they will lose the best years of their lives, but Tyler’s family lost a son, and they can never get him back again.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, demonizing Ravi and Wei as the bullies who caused Clementi’s suicide is a little harsh and probably does not conform with the facts at hand. For example, it is unknown what role Wei played in particular. It is quite clear that Clementi has faced abuse before this incident. Ravi and Wei’s actions only tipped his hand. They should be punished for their role, but I believe that they are being unfairly demonized by both the public and the press. The authorities need to examine what other past abuse Clementi might have faced as a result of his sexuality. </p>
<p>But, if the public calls for their heads, then it will most likely get them.</p>
<p>These two kids did not do something “minor.”</p>
<p>Even if Clementi didn’t commit suicide – it would still be far from minor.</p>
<p>They videotaped him naked and having sex, and then distributed that footage to people across the internet.</p>
<p>If that happened to you, you would feel violated as well. They without question violated his right to privacy and then some.</p>
<p>What if this had happened to someone else? What if a male teacher installed video cameras to film middle school girls in the locker room? What if a weirdo at the mall installed cameras inside the women’s restroom? What if an embarrassing video of you naked and having sex was on the internet, and could never be taken down?</p>
<p>But it does make a major difference in the severity of the crime. Capturing a persons image while nude or in sexual acts qualifies for a more severe punishment.</p>
<p>And right now, Rutgers Policies are the least of their concerns.</p>
<p>i guess gordon ramsey is also a murderer then.</p>
<p>the invasion of privacy thing definitely needs to be prosecuted, there’s no doubt about that, but calling this murder is laughable, the kid was reported to be depressed before the incident anyway.</p>
<p>Not trying to dispute your facts, but where did you find that they were having sex? All I heard was that it was a “sexual encounter,” and every source I’ve seen has said he was simply making out with another man.</p>
<p>For once, BIGeasBEAST, I agree with you on a lot of your points. There is a huge difference between what pinkcup is saying they did and what I’ve heard that Wei and Ravi did - which is taping him making out with a man - and if it turns out that you and I are right, then it’s not too hefty of a fine.</p>
<p>I felt literally ill when I read that article. What an awful thing to happen. And I agree that Ravi and Wei need to pay for their actions. But I don’t think imposing a super harsh punishment is the way to go. Many other people have had similar things happen to them - I have a friend whose sex tape was passed around campus and was miserable - but the punishments haven’t been as harsh.</p>
<p>I agree with you on some level. Bullying is not some new phenomenon that has cropped up in the past few years. It has always existed. However, I think it is the dependence on technology that has made things so much worse. People cannot communicate with each other. We have bred a generation of kids with horrible social skills who can only interact with each other through a text. That is one of the underlying problems here. </p>
<p>Secondly, yes, it is an unimaginable tragedy, but demonizing these kids who made a mistake is not the answer. The kid played a stupid prank on his roommate, because that is what dumb college kids do. Nothing alludes to the fact that it was a “hate crime”. Mr. Clementi had some depression problems clearly, because that is not a natural reflex to an instance of bullying. It just irks me that these LGBT-groups have hijacked this tragedy and try to make it a rally for oppression of gays. Yes, gay people suffer from hate crimes, this just was not one of them. Honestly, I think it makes light of this horrific event to make it an issue. By doing that you are missing the point. A bright young man is dead, two other kids will have their lives ruined (through either guilt or the court system), and an entire school and countless families have to cope with it.</p>
<p>^ There was an editorial in the school newspaper The Daily Targum this morning about how the media and LGBT groups both on campus and nation wide were exploiting the situation. Here’s a link to an online publishing of the editorial:</p>
<p>Alright, I guess I mistook “sexual encounter” as a soft way of saying they were having sex - but I guess it’s just to sensationalize it.</p>
<p>Still a pretty terrible thing to do though.</p>
<p>But I disagree with the article above. This situation does have to deal with gay people and how they are treated - if this guy was making out with a girl, he wouldn’t be ridiculed by his roommate and ‘pranked’ like he was. The guy was clearly trying to make fun of his sexuality with his messages like “Get a load of this! if you dare…” and such nonsense. I hope the little prick gets his just desserts.</p>
I agree to disagree, but again, that is what stupid college kids do–play dumb pranks on their roommate. Thinking about it, freshman year we all did stupid things to each other, but it was because we were dumb kids not because we were prejudiced or hateful.</p>