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visit my website www.robynrittersimon.com

Friday, October 1, 2010

Day 167: A Young Man's Suicide

What a tragedy. What a loss. And what immeasurable pain Tyler Clementi's parents must be experiencing.

Tyler is the young man, just 18 years old, a Freshman at Rutgers University who took his own life this past week. He ended his very promising life by jumping off a bridge into the Hudson River after learning that his college roommate (allegedly) secretly videotaped a sexual encounter between Tyler and another male.

What kind of person videotapes their roommate? And what kind of person then (allegedly) uploads the video to stream on the Internet as if it were a game or a sport. Well it was neither. It was a person. A student. An accomplished violinist. A son. A friend. A young person with a promising musical future.

I have three son's, one is a Sophomore in college. I know countless teenage boys and I can't imagine one of them EVER being so cruel or hateful. If I were the parents of the two alleged students, one Tyler's roommate the other a friend of his, I would be so ashamed that my child contributed to a student taking their own life. What kind of kids are these? What were they thinking? That it was funny? A college prank? What could posses a person to be so heartless? Personally I hope the New Jersey District Attorney throws the damn books at both of them.

My heart aches for Tyler's parents. Their beautiful son gone because others thought his life should be played out on the Internet.

Teach your children compassion, understanding, tolerance and grill it into them that while others may make different choices, all are to be accepted.

Rest in peace Tyler Clementi.