“News Flash:Internet to Blame for Suicide?”

Technology has advanced so far in the past ten years. It has become apart of all our daily lives. I don’t know anyone my age that doesn’t use the computer at least once a week. Technology can be a positive medium for our generation. I use the computer to reconnect with old friends, find out information, and watch videos of my favorite music artists. The problem with technology comes when people use it in negative ways. The Internet is an outlet that many people use to express themselves but that expression often gets used to harass and hurt people. This is where the negative and even dangerous part of technology comes in. The way in which people are abusing this technological medium needs to stop. The violation of privacy through this medium is a constant issue. The cyber-bullying and stalking and harassing through text can lead to very serious consequences that no one could have imagined.

This was the case with 18-year-old Tyler Clementi a freshman at Rutgers University. This was a horrible case of violation of rights and fearful backlash from people in this society that left a young man with a promising future dead. The circumstances surrounding this issue are not all that uncommon. Although we say that we are liberal and open to homosexuality many people are not and being homosexual in this society is still looked down upon and met with opposition and violence. This young man’s rights were violated when his roommate another student at the school streamed live video of him doing sexual acts with another man without his consent. Clementi had tried to tell an RA but from what I gathered not much was done about it and he ended up committing suicide. Clementi jumped to his death off the George Washington Bridge. His parents and many friends hadn’t known that he was homosexual and he didn’t want people to find out from this incident. I am really sad that this young man felt like there was no other way than to end his life.

In a society ruled by Patriarchy and heteronormativity people who deviate or seem to deviate from that are often treated cruelly and inhumane. The fact that there are messages that are sent to us through media, friends and family that reinforce this heteronormative mind state is a reason why homosexuality is not more widely accepted. The fact that at the essence we are all people regardless of sexual orientation is one that should unite us. Instead we let thing like gender and race and sexual orientation keep us divided. The outpour of situations surrounding homosexual people and the response that this issue is getting is fully warranted. If the suicides of theses teen boys can help people to understand that cyber bullying and treating someone like less than a person because of the way they choose to express them self sexually is wrong. There are many places and hotlines where teens can go before they get to the point where they feel they need to take their own life. There have also been many celebrities who have responded to this article and others incidents like this one. Ellen DeGeneres was really saddened by this story and spoke out about this and against teen bullying on her show. She used her celebrity to raise awareness about this issue and teach people that this has to end.
http://lafiga.firedoglake.com/2010/09/30/ellen-speaks-out-on-youth-suicides-and-bullying/

In this case media outlets were being used in a positive way to raise awareness and get people involved with what is becoming an epidemic among homosexual teens. One of the persons who committed suicide may have not actually been homosexual but because he appeared homosexual to his peers he was bullied just the same. The honest truth is what does someone whose gay looks like. There is no clear-cut answer because homosexual people don’t have a look but if you appear more feminine than your gender should then that is a way in which people think they can label you homosexual. Why is appearance so relied on when talking about homosexuality? The main reason is what we talked about in class Thursday, which are gender roles. We are so used to having two sexes male and female that we don’t know how to act if we are unsure what gender someone is. The societal cues that we get when we are growing up is how to talked to people based of gender that when we encounter someone is not clearly appears to be one of those we are uncomfortable and therefore react with anger and ignorance. If we take time to get to understand people we will see the people come in more than just the duality that society would lead us to believe that gender and sex roles must be reconstructed to include everyone. If there is a tolerance for religious beliefs in this country why not have tolerance for sexual orientation? People must put aside their religious beliefs when it come to sexual tolerance and realized that we are all people and whom we choose to love or be in a sexual relationship with has nothing to do with religion but with who we are as people. People come in various shapes, sizes, and you can add to the list sexual orientation. Being who you are does not effect who someone else is. When you are tolerant you do not have to necessary agree with another person choices but u tolerate it and do not retaliate.

The outcry of people talking about this case and the many other suicides and incidents these past few weeks surrounding sexual orientation are phenomenal. There is a lot of discussion going on pertaining to and concerning teen bullying and homosexuality. I think this is good that we have a whole online community contributing to discussion about Tyler and other young men who lost their lives so early do to the attitudes of people in this society. The things people are saying on twitter alone is remarkable the sheer awareness of our generation and the level of understanding that people are putting forth are amazing. The twitter community made #Clementi a trending topic and are asking questions like “Is this a case of when social networking goes too far?” Many people tweeted that the fact that this was done with technology and through social networks means makes it more painful. The sheer misuse of social networking sites to incite ignorance, bullying, and hate is just why many people fear that the internet will be the downfall of society. The offset of this is that so many people are using the internet for positive to shed light on these ignorant acts and combat the hate and cyber abuse with love and positivity.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/blog-post/2010/09/suicide_of_gay_teenagers_four.html

This story was a tragic one due to the circumstances surrounding it but if we can learn from this story and get some insight as to why Clementi and others fill like the only option is suicide. If we can try and understand what it must be like to not fit into the societal norms, we can create more programs and help lines so that these teens can get help before they feel like it is to late. We must try and stop this cycle because if we don’t people will continue to commit suicide and worst because they are not aware that there are people who are out there who know what they are going through and want to help them. Being homosexual or transsexual or intersexual is not a disease that guarantees a life full of pain it is a life that may come as a little bit more of a challenge because of this society and political structure in place but if we can continue to educate and not to eradicate people this can become something that adds to the diversity of humankind.

While Tyler Clementi’s death illustrates the dangers of the Internet the public response to his death represents the support and outreach to which the online community can help rectify these issues. The fact that someone is so fearful of public and private backlash if he or she “comes out the closet” so to speak that they would be willing to take their own life is so disheartening. The Internet was used as a vehicle in this incident to violate someone’s rights and the people responsible should be held accountable but who holds society accountable for making people feel that their only option is death. I think we all need to bear the brunt of that responsibility because everyday most of us are living in a would where we hear homophobic slurs and say nothing or even witness gay bashing and keep our mouths shut. We all need to speak up because if we don’t this will continue to happen in much more alarming numbers. We must deal with this head on and train people in dealing with homosexuality and all things that deviated from the norm because in the case of the bullying done at school the teachers and administration say nothing and by not speaking up we are perpetuating the problem. So we must speak because if we are not apart of the solution we are helping to continue the problem.