Humiliation and Death of a Rutgers student

Robert Burns said (0.00 / 0)

"Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn."

"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." - Sen. Ted Kennedy

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by: Bill Orr @ Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 23:33:20 PM UTC

Weinberg/Huttle/Johnson statement (4.00 / 3)

"The loss of this young life is devastating. Our hearts break for the
family and friends of Mr. Clementi, whose life was cut short because of
a senseless and heartless act by his peers.

"We will withhold judgment of the accused, whose fate is now in the
hands of our justice system. We are confident they will be held
accountable for the actions that led to this tragic loss of life.
"But this terrible tragedy demonstrates a bigger problem. Despite
anti-bullying laws and efforts to teach children tolerance and
acceptance, unprovoked acts of cruelty continue to take place, resulting
in tragic deaths of youngsters across our country.

"We must do more. In the days ahead, we will revisit our bullying and
anti-harassment laws to ensure that we are doing everything we can to
educate our students, and to make sure kids recognize the serious nature
of harassment.

"That a young person could be so distressed that he could be driven to
suicide demonstrates that we must do more to teach children from a very
young age that this kind of act toward another human being is
unacceptable. We have to teach our children to have respect for our
differences, whether they are racial, ethnic, religious or gender-based.
But we have to start with ourselves in order to achieve real change."  

activist for hire.

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by: Jay Lassiter @ Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 00:51:32 AM UTC

you left out sexual orientation (0.00 / 0)

in the penultimate line. That line should have beeen the lede.

Was that an oversight?

Here:

"We have to teach our children to have respect for our
differences, whether they are racial, ethnic, religious or gender-based."

This was obviously a gay hatred driven episode.  

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by: Winston Smith @ Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 12:22:47 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Weinberg/Huttle/Johnson Statement (0.00 / 0)

With all due respect - The problem is not with the law but rather with the reality that school districts DO NOT do all that they are suppose to do when addressing bullying.
As a Special Education Advocate I am all to aware of the horrific bullying that takes place throughout the school districts and how lax the administrations are in dealing "harshly" with bullying.
The greatest tactic used by districts is putting the blame on the family, as witnessed by what the family of the 13 year old boy who killed himself a few weeks ago are suffering from their district.
This tactic is all to frequently used by schools right here in NJ.
Harsher penalties should be given to districts that do not truly enforce the bullying laws and who fail to move quickly in addressing the problem and stopping it.

 

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by: liz @ Fri Oct 01, 2010 at 15:40:57 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Republicans: corporations are people, but people are not (0.00 / 0)

Republicans think that multinational corporations deserve basic human rights, but real, American people who are gay, Latino or Muslim don't.

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by: tunghoy @ Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 01:36:51 AM UTC

I hope (0.00 / 0)

laws are invented to prosecute these two.


"Where ever you go, there you are." - Buckaroo Bonzai

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by: William Weber (WjcW) @ Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 12:30:34 PM UTC

Humiliating (0.00 / 0)

A good friend of mine - and of Blue Jersey's - said elsewhere that in my use of the word "humiliation" someone might infer I meant that being gay is humiliating:

What that roommate and his friend did was bullying but Mr. Clementi being gay is not humiliating.

It's a really interesting point, and certainly my use of the word humiliation referred to a private sexual experience being made public as some fools' idiot idea of funny, and not to his sexual orientation. That said, words matter, and terms matter, particularly in sensitive situations. And I wouldn't want mine hurting anyone. So I'm glad to have the opportunity to clarify what I meant, and I'm glad she let me know.

It's not a particularly snappy signature, but here's what I think we need in the next NJ Democratic State Chair.  

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by: Rosi Efthim @ Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 12:44:17 PM UTC

I understood what you meant (0.00 / 0)

I took your use of the word "humiliation" exactly as you intended it, Rosi. What person would want a private act to be made public? All the more so if it is one which exposes somebody who might still be in the closet to parents, friends, etc. Humiliation is the one word I would use no matter what the sexual orientation of the victim.

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by: Alex @ Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 12:58:48 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Aegletes (0.00 / 0)

Thanks, much. But I also appreciated hearing from my friend. Her read of what was said is every bit as legit as how I thought I said it. It's too easy to go off-wobble when the issues are this sensitive. Better to apologize, make yourself clear as you can, and apply due respect even - especially - to criticism.

I really do appreciate what you said, Aegletes, thanks.

It's not a particularly snappy signature, but here's what I think we need in the next NJ Democratic State Chair.  

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by: Rosi Efthim @ Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 13:58:37 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Star Ledger story (0.00 / 0)

compare it with the far more compassionate Bergen Record story.

And the Ledger printed the cover story, as well as video interviews of a "like clueless" young woman:

http://www.nj.com/news/index.s...

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by: Winston Smith @ Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 12:52:08 PM UTC