If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Casual homophobia has the potential to do very serious damage to the fragile psyche of an adolescent, and social alienation, isolation, fear and depression are often soon to follow.
We all deserve to learn how to be compassionate with ourselves and others. To live as equals. To be safe. To be ourselves and have our rights protected by one another. To be respected and pass it on.
Several weeks after Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi's tragic suicide, college students around the country are writing about Clementi in their campus newspapers, expressing their takes on the lessons their campuses should learn
We all don't have to agree, I know, but we all have to treat people with respect and dignity. Kavod ha'briot, honoring all living creatures, is a strong value in Judaism.
On the basis of what we know thus far, I think we can guess this: Tyler Clementi died as a direct result of a culture of sexual shame in which institutionalized religion is the major investor.
Children and young adults -- with much encouragement -- are putting up far too much personal information online, and they don't understand the consequences.
Tyler Clementi isn't dead because he was gay. Yes, he had his personal life splashed all over the internet because was gay. But this doesn't explain why his tormentors felt no compunction about violating his privacy in such an egregious and cruel manner.
The recent spate of bullying-induced suicides - below are the names Asher Brown, 13, Cypress, Texas Seth Walsh, 13, Tehachapi, California Justin Aab...
A few months ago, researchers issued a study reporting that today's college students display significantly less empathy than their peers from 30 years ago. I did not want to believe the study. But I wonder.
If we are to learn anything from this horrendous incident at Rutgers, we will need to look deeply into the social, psychological and technological forces that converged on this young man's psyche.
Think about what you, your friends and -- your children could do to help save someone's dignity -- to save someone's life.
For The Laramie Project actor and writer, Greg Perotti, the news of Clementi's death added another pall over a show that, each night, retraces the journey of Matthew Shepard's death.
The kids doing the bullying are not really the ones at fault. The message they are receiving from adults is that today in 2010 it may not be okay to call someone the N-word on the playground, but it is okay to call someone the F-word.
Instead of just focusing on youth engaged in actual online bullying, we should also be encouraging online "bystanders" to speak up and speak out. This is part of being a good digital citizen
Stories of teens driven to suicide by antigay taunting are all over the news and today is the day we stop ignoring the problem.
