Not a 'college prank,' they say, urging trial of ex-roommate, another student
Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comParents of teen suicide: Prosecute on privacy charges
Seeded on Tue Mar 22, 2011 7:23 PM EDT (msnbc.com)
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I agree with the parents. They deserve some jail time for being soooooo mean. They new they were going to hurt him. But he was the one who couldn't live with his homo life being revealed.
How would you feel if someone live streamed acts that you would prefer to be kept private. It does not matter what he was doing, he was not commiting a crime, and they were in the wrong for doing what they have done. Your comment carries and air of ignorance, and bias.
Uhhh... yeah... he committed a crime.
Last I checked attempting suicide is illegal and succeeding is a capital punishment.
What is digusting is that some of the Conservative organizations are now mounting up against Anti-Bully bills, because they feel that these bills are designed to protect GAYS and designed to provide the Gay community a leverage.
Why is the chick let go with the least punishment? Is she a virtuous woman? Was there a need to expose someone's personal matters, though seriously, they're not very personal if they're committed in a shared dorm room.
surprisingly i agree with the parents and the charges they are pursuing. they are only going after what is legally and blindingly obvious.
on the other hand regarding anti-bullying bills... i got bullied as a kid. i only told once. after that i learned that parents wouldnt help and i had to deal with the problem myself. so i did. it made me who i am today. this next generation is already growing up softer with parents afraid to spank their kids or punish them in anyway. every parent seems to think that their child is the most beautiful and heavenly angel ever created no matter if he/she has been arrested, caught stealing, had some babies etc... why would anyone support a law thats going to make your children even less independant and responsible than they already are?
i know that bullying is not "right" and i dont agree with it. unfortunately its part of how children build a social hierarchy. it can be taught at home subconciusly or learned from friends at school. i believe that its better to teach our children that they dont need to cry and pout everytime someone calls them a bad name or pushes them. we need to teach them how to respond appropriately both physically and emotionally. just an opinion and im sure ill get flamed by all the pc folks
Sebastion - I agree with you 99%. The roommate in this case, and his cohorts, are guilty of invading another person's privacy, and if that is a criminal offense, and it should be, then they should be prosecuted.
...and I believe that you are mostly right on the anti-bullying laws. They criminalize behavior, which traditionally are not considered a crime, and certainly not a felony.
Where I have reservations would have to do with the scope of the bullying. If involves nothing more than calling names and social ostracism, there is little for the law to address. But in circumstances where an individual is put in physical fear of attack, or subjected to organized and prolonged harassment, say through the Internet, then there may be circumstances in which the law should act. But even there, I would not frame these incidents as a felony, unless the individual acts in and of themselves amount to a felony.
There's a saying that interesting cases make for bad law. We are all surprised and saddened when an adolescent boy or girl takes their own life, for whatever reason. It is a natural instinct to try and prevent such acts. But, it is a false assumption that the law or society can step in and make everybody 100% safe and happy. In trying to do so, we will inevitably cause more problems than we fix.
and you're the one who shouldn't have revealed your uneducated lifestyle. how dumb do you have to be to not spell knew correctly?
datadon-1022290 Would you want a live show online for all of your friends, family and the world to see of you, having sex with "WHATEVER" you have sex with, or masturbating on the john lookin at whatever you look at when you do it? The simple fact is his privacy was horribly invaded. Nuff Said!!
Comment # 1 restored for clarity.
"Why is the chick let go with the least punishment?"
Because her only crime was opening her dorm room door when Dharun Ravi knocked. Molly Wei and Dharun Ravi went to high school together. Ravi sets the whole thing up and goes into Wei's room to check on the webcam he set up.
Imagine if your daughter opened up her dorm room door to a guy she knew for years. He asks her to use her computer so he can watch his roommate in their room. Next thing you know, the kid jumps off the GW Bridge and she's facing charges and DEATH threats from her fellow students. Mob mentality indeed.
Go after Ravi, but leave Molly Wei alone. She didn't conspire to commit this crime, she only opened the door to her friend. The fact that he used her computer to watch this violation of privacy doesn't mean she's a bad person. If she is criminally responsible, it's just by the skin of her teeth.
LEAVE MOLLY WEI ALONE. Go after Ravi, he's the one who invaded the privacy.
Hatr-Hurter - How does one educate a "lifestyle"?
Question number 2: among educated people (and lifestyles?), is not it common to begin sentences with a capital letter?
I'm just curious. Perhaps your "educated lifestyle" can inform both of us.
While I feel for the parents (no parent should outlive their child) this is a case of some guy being such a sissy that he "couldn't live with the shame". I couldn't care less if he's gay, but he could be a man. Life's tough sometimes.
Randy Bauer-1027777
How many 18 year old "men" or "women" do you know? At 18, sexuality is just starting in the lives of some, and starting to awaken in others even in older years. Would you want your most private moments broadcast to the world no matter your age?
While these two fellow students may have thought it funny, what they have done is tantamount to manslaughter in my opinion. This young man would still be alive if it were not for their direct actions. His parents are much more sympathetic to them than I would be if it were one of my children. Perhaps with a little time in prison, they will have time for reflection and introspection on what they have done. Without being held accountable for their actions, they very well may do it again, or something else equally as stupid. And the next victim could be one of your own.
Jeepers Peepers!,
Ummm... There's a reason why the legal system isn't written as you just described it should be.
Agreed. This fellow was a homosexual that simply did not want to be identified despite a modern climate that more accepting. Any person, man or woman, that attempts or commit suicide is a coward, though women with their sissy and unreliable methods are the most cowardly in that they want the pity without the death.
Men commit 80% of suicides. If women committed close to a majority, there would be a national movement and special congressional "For the Prevention of Female but not Male Suicide" committee and billion dollar budget to bring attention to the problem. Since it is the onmi-disposable men, it is always their own fault.
Really, randy bauer ?
Many people fear humiliation more than they fear death. Anyway, there is no excuse for invading somebody's privacy in such a way. Those two jerks should be locked up, and for long time. They knew very well what they were doing.
Wow, Vincent! You are showing your ignornance in general as well as your extreme prejudice against women. Maybe you shouldn't judge whether the modern climate is "more accepting" of gays until you have lived openly as a gay man. Please, seek counseling.
Tell you what randy, how about we send a film crew into your bedroom and post it on the net. Then you can show us all how to be "a man" about it.
Randy---
This was an 18-year old. It probably wasn't just the fact that he couldn't live with the shame. He needed time to think, to talk out the situation with someone. Who would want something such as that streamed online for the entire world to see, especially the world of folks at the university, fellow students, possibly faculty members, his family, his friends? For his roommate, et al, to video tape him in the act and stream it online was NOT cool, at all, even if it had been with someone of the opposite sex - NOT C-O-O-L.
Suppose it was you? It's easy to sit there and call this young man a sissy because it isn't you. You need to try to imagine yourself in his shoes. It would be extremely difficult to be in a situation such as this and look beyond it to an interval where all the hype is over and all has rested to normal.
If he committed suicide a few days later, he'd probably received all types of emails, text messages, death threats, you name some. If you're sitting there calling him a sissy, what do you believe others who knew him, or knew of him or the video, called him? He probably was getting messages from total strangers who'd seen the video. I'm surprised it wasn't on YouTube.
It's too bad someone couldn't have removed him from the scene until he could get his thinking together, take a leave from the university, etc.
My heart goes out to this young man, his family and his friends who actually cared about him.
I hope this is a lesson to all college students, an arena where young folks tend to think something's funny that totally isn't funny. They need to start thinking a little.
They're smart enough to get admitted into a great university. Get smart enough to get admitted through life. Sheesh!
Tortcots ~~ My sentiments exactly. Ditto, ditto, and ditto. Another thing is the fact that we have no idea what kind of torment and MEANNESS he may have suffered at the hands of such despicable people prior to being videoed. The students who were involved with this terrible betrayal and invasion of privacy are SICKENING to me. I hope they suffer the fullest extent of the law. I also hope this is a lesson learned to those who are looking on. Our acts of meanness and callousness may have far reaching consequences, not just for us, but also our families. So let our acts be acts of KINDNESS. Otherwise we may live to be haunted for the rest of our lives, by the STUPID things we can't take back, when we're young.
We are forgetting this fellow was not Rutgers for education, he was there to work as male prostitute. Prostitution is simply wrong even in the dorm room.
Shyam...you must be a complete idiot.
Shyam, I can't access the article. Does it state that he was there as a prostitute? If you can provide a quote stating that, I would appreciate it, thank you.
tortcut THERE IS NO SHAME IN BEING GAY! That is about the most narrow minded statement I've read here.
OK maybe thats alittle strong. But He does not need to feel shame.
imrightnotyou - simply saying "there's no shame in being gay" doesnt mean that everyone agree's, including many gay kids who've grown up in environments in which its made plenty clear that there, is in fact, shame in being gay.
Today, at nearly 32...I feel zero shame in being gay, I agree...it's not something to be ashamed of. However, im still not out at my current place of employment - not because of shame, but because i'm well aware of who I work with...and how it would adversly affect my employment here. My options are slim, I cant simply "go find a place im able to be me"...I have to make hard choices that keep me silenced for immediate survival.
I remember being a teen and not feeling confused about my sexuality, but feeling very scared about how others would treat me. Mainly my family & friends, but strangers too. I remember contemplating suicide, but I was never serious about it - because ultimately I didnt see the logic in me having to forfeit my life because others have a problem with my sexuality.
I never had to experience anything on the level that this kid experienced, so I cannot say how I would have reacted. Kids, they tend not to have a clear vision of whats happening...nor an appreciation for how temporary things like this are, they feel permanent, they feel like ones world has ended.
He made a horrible choice in reaction to a horrible situation, and whether it was internal shame, or a fear of rejection by family, or a belief that his aspiring musical career was dead because of this...doesnt really matter now.
We simply must send the message to other kids that this wasnt "expected", this isnt "acceptable"...and most importantly, this is not a valid response to temporary problems - no matter how permanent they seem. We simply must send better messages to our youth...because the bullies, and society isnt likely to change any time soon...rotteneness will continue, good christians (and other faiths too) the world over will continue to refuse to practice what they preach...and kids, our kids, will be stolen from us because of this.
If we cant stop people from being rotten, cruel and downright evil...we simply have to prepare our youth to be ready for it, to anticipate it, to rise above it and ultimately...to understand, these are the folks who'll be burning in hell...not you.
Very well stated.
I hope the prosecution wins and is able to convict the two college students on their privacy charges. It was a horrible invasion of privacy by Ravi and, though he didn't do it with the intention of the young man killing himself, he certainly helped bring about the suicide. He deserves to be punished for this.
And so does Wei....
The Clementis "do not seek to hold (Ravi [and Wei]) criminally responsible for Tyler's suicide,"
That's because in almost all cases of invasion of privacy, it is not a criminal offense. In some cases, it may be grounds for a civil action. That is, you may sue someone in civil court.
Do you know what a wanker is Chris? It's exactly what you are for your uncaring attitude toward the parents. Jeepers Peepers and Christina both are correct. The stupid unthinking morons who instigated the video should be held criminally liable as well as civilly. Wouldn't that give them a shock, and all the other wankers out there that think this is nothing?
How is Chris unfeeling? He is simply making a statement.
Is there a reasonable expectation of absolute privacy in a college dorm in 2010? That will be the central issue. The rulings in the past have said that once you go off your land or outside your property you lose the expectation of privacy. If celebrities can be photographed anytime they are in sight, including through an open window, then the general public can too. In this day and age it is up to everyone to ensure their own privacy. Anyone ever see American Pie, the bedroom scene where the shirt gets thrown over the camera? That's all it takes, just cover the camera. He must have known it was there, he lived there, so why didn't he take that step and cover it?
bob5ford - a dorm room is one's home when in college and one should be able to expect full privacy. How can you possibly even try to justify what this man's roommate and his friends did by suggesting that he shouldn't expect privacy in his dorm room. If you use that absolutely ridiculous argument, you are also saying that it's all right to send videos of coeds undressing if they do it in their dorm rooms. It was not his responsibility to cover the camera. Besides, you don't know whether it was hidden.
You idiot, he didnt know the camera was there because it was hidden. If he had known he would oviously have covered it ! why would he let someone record him doing something that would later on cause him so much grief that he would kill himself over it? and Shyam you are beyond stupid< even if he had been a prostitute Which he was not, he did not deserve to be trated like that,
A dorm room that has at least two people. Before they became roomies they didn't know each other. Sort of like a hotel at school. I wouldn't expect privacy from that. Maybe it's the school's responsibility.
That's not true. There are many places outside of one's home where courts have ruled that one has a reasonable expectation of privacy. To take one example, it's illegal to covertly videotape a roomful of nude people in a gym locker room. It's also illegal to set up a hidden video camera in a public restroom.
In a college dormatory, one DOES have a reasonable expectation of privacy. If you secretly videotape a college student eating a sandwhich in his dorm room and put it on the internet, you've committed a crime.
Loki0124 - you are wrong in stating that students living in dorm rooms are not entitled to privacy. A dorm room is a student's home away from home. He or she has every right to privacy in personal matters, including intimate situations with others. The student who committed suicide was not standing on a public platform waiting for a subway train. He was in the only personal living space that was available to him while boarding at college. Living in a dorm does not entitle one's roommate to videotape sexual acts or anything else without permission.
Virtually any legal text on the subject that was written by a qualified author will tell you this.
The problem with your argument is that you are confusing two very DIFFERENT issues: lawful entry and the right to covertly videotape. Law enforcement officers are often permitted to enter dorm rooms without the permission of the person that lives in the dorm room because A) that person is not the owner of the property and B) in many cases, you sign an agreement that permits this when you move in.
Covertly videotaping someone, however, is a very different issue. In this case, the legal standard is whether or not a reasonable expectation of privacy exists. If I want to, I can stand on a street corner and secretly videotape you to my heart's content. One cannot, on the other hand, secretly install a videocamera in a public restroom because people have a reasonable expectation of privacy there. Whether or not you own the public restroom yourself has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Loki0124 - you are missing the point. The discussion is not about which laws have been passed and remain on the books no matter how antiquated. The point is invasion of privacy and the fact that a person was videotaped in a compromising position without his permission. Read post #4.16 by
MGinRochester, who clearly states the situation.
Speaking of citing sources, perhaps you should cite your source that supports your incorrect assumption that it's acceptable for a roommate to videotape someone engaging in sexual activity without that person's permission. BTW, people associated with law enforcement were not searching the room. That is not the issue. Stay on track.
It's true that a dorm room is not completely private. So, how many of you are willing to broadcast your sexual encounters online because they took place in a dorm room? I didn't go to college, but I'm told that many college students have sex in their dorm rooms. There is a huge difference between being expected to realize that your roommate may walk in at any time, and being expected to realize that your roommate may webcast your private life at any time. What an ignorant comment. It's just dumb. People do all kinds of things in their dorm rooms that they wouldn't want webcast. What about the next time you are changing your clothes, putting on face cream or a facial mask, curlers in your hair, etc? These are not as personal as sex, but they are still personal rituals that you would not want the whole world to have access to. This was an invasion of privacy, and for those of you trying to defend it, I have a question:
Would you be defending it if the victim was your child/sibling/friend and that person's opposite sex partner?
Kid completely overreacted.
Key word there Alasdair is-KID
so the parents should be blamed cause they didn't teach their child how to handle himself when embarrassing situations arise.
Alasdair, it wasn't just an embarrassing situation, the kid was the victim of a crime. And if you don't agree with that, then I assume that you wouldn't mind someone secretly while you're having sex and broadcasting it on the internet. Could he have handled it better? Of course he could have, but that's not the point here. The point is that if these two kids did what they're accused of doing, then they are low-lifes and criminals, and they should be punished accordingly.
your right ,i don't agree with that and quite frankly if i were put online without my consent having sex, i would not mind.
Just because you say (from the comfort of your side of the computer) that you wouldn't mind, means nothing, until it actually happens to you. It's easy to be a brave computer warrior. They're here all the time.
alright then lets set it up, you guys can critique my style.
Alasdair is probably on line, rubbing one out for anyone who'll watch his video feed.
hide your kids hide your wife
ravi did it to intentionally inflict emotional damage. that is very much a criminal offense. if you don't care that's one thing but saying the boy's parents are to blame is the most stupid a thing i've ever read on here alasdair.
Actually Alasdair I was wondering what your gay lover looked like. I can't wait to see the video... I'll be sure to critique your style though!
Alasdair - If your "endowment" matches your IQ, then there is certainly not much with which to be impressed. You are better off if you refrain from exposing all for the world to see.
I agree with the parents. Go for it !! We are losing ALL of our privacy in this country. This boy should have been allowed SOME !!!
Several years ago Pete Cashmore, owner and CEO of Mashable, had this to say, "I'd wager that the high price of not capturing and sharing every moment of our lives will soon dwarf the cost of our privacy."
That is slowly unveiling itself to be a reality and the wisdom of protecting personal privacy seems to be lost on generations that have grown up on the Internet (and many more). You don't need to have "something to hide" to cherish your privacy. If you treasure your privacy, you are more likely to respect others' privacy.
I'm all behind the parents' right and desire to press charges but why are they doing that and then saying "but we don't want them held criminally responsible"? The sentence, if they're found guilty, is roughly 18 months in jail. How is this not holding them criminally responsible? Are they saying they don't want the kids tried for murder? Again, I can understand it if that's their position: Charge them for invasion of privacy rather than murder. But any charge is holding them criminally responsible, on some level. It's a weird thing for the parents to say.
Of course these people should be held accountable..... anybody that believes otherwise needs to get serious help. :)
BS why didn't the other guy kill himself? Because he was not Fu%^&d up in the brain, a little embarrassing, but not life threating.
If people should be held accountable?
then hold the parents accountable
hold Hollywood accountable
hold fashion accountable
hold all other GAYS accountable
HELL WHILE YOU ARE AT IT, BLAME it on Teletubbies THEY CAUSED IT.
The TRUTH is he killed himself because he was caught being GAY?
OR?
He had mental problems!
Seems we disagree .... I can live with your sad outlook.
aprender ~~ How ill informed could any one person be, to chalk this suicide up to 'just being a little embarrassed, ' is a ridiculous statement. The betrayal is ENORMOUS. Privacy is ESSENTIAL in our lives. Some of us hold certain things as sacred. Have you never heard that 'a man's home is his castle'? A sanctuary away from the outside world, a place of refuge. His dorm room should have been that for him. But it was desecrated by some very MEAN individuals who had hate in their heart, and knew exactly what they were doing. EVIL! I think the statements of the parents of the boy who took his life, speak volumes about the kind of people they are. They are forgiving, kind, sensetive and don't wish for more lives to be ruined. No doubt their son was a sensetive kind individual as well.
Get over your gay rant aprender. It's easy to see from your posts that you hate gays and would enjoy seeing anything bad happen to them.
The sad thing is, this kid likely didn't kill himself because of a single isolated incident. This was just the straw that broke the camel's back. There's a good chance it was a culmination of 12-13 years of bullying (kids are absolutely BRUTAL to anyone they believe shows weakness) And there's a good chance it wasn't the first time Ravi bullied someone either- live streaming someone else's sexual encounter doesn't strike me as something a non-bully would jump to as a first move to embarrass someone, it's an escalation of past behavior that was never corrected. Ultimately both of these kids were failed either by their parents, their teachers or school administrators and their peers and the end result was tragic.
Give me a break. He killed himself because he was emotionally disturbed. He suffered from homosexuality. If he wanted privacy, he should not have had homosexual sex in a shared room. How about the rooomates rights?
Sara---
No one is blaming the roommate for Clementi's death. His parents have made that clear.
Still, the article doesn't say Ravi, the roommate, was in the room. Hence, Ravi's own privacy couldn't be an issue. The article says Ravi set up the webcam in the dorm room, which implies Ravi WAS NOT in the room when the encounter took place.
Yet, your apparent bias toward an alternate life style evidently blinds you from any sense of balance, or fairness, in this situation. You don't know the particulars of this case.
For all you know, Ravi could've said he'd be gone for a spell because he already knew he'd set up the webcam to stream Clementi's encounter LIVE online.
to sara-1600751: he "suffered from homosexuality" ??!??! Sexual orientation is not like a cold - one does not "suffer from" it. However, many suffer BECAUSE of it....the young man who took his life did so because he found no other solution. How sad that no one was there for him to let him know it would get better. Oh FYI - I am not homosexual - I am a 58 year old grandmother whose heart aches when I read comments like "suffered from homosexuality". Let's exercise some compassion and tolerance. Won't cost a thing - I promise.
sara ~~ the real emotionally disturbed ones are the ones who set up the video. THEY are the ones with a problem, and they inflicted their own shame, hatred, violence and meanness on another person. They purposefully set out on a mission to cause harm. These kind of people are part of what is wrong with our culture today. There are far too many people who think that THEY have the right to bring others down for being different.
I'd say both Ravi and Wei are guilty of a first degree criminal level of cruelty. What slime!
The kid's privacy was violated, illegally and unscrupulously, and the images of his intimacy with a partner of his choice was transmitted publicly, violating yet another law.
I think a term of imprisonment is in order and, who knows, the perpetrators may very well end up having their own intimate moments that would, to their good fortune, not be transmitted publicly. The bad news would be that it might not be with a partner of their choice. A strange scenario of poetic justice, isn't it?
Invasion of privacy is not normally a criminal offense. The most likely outcome is that the case will be brought to a civil court and the offenders will be sued.
I am confused about the tone of privacy implied by posters. A request was made by the roommate to the other roommate to have the shared room for the evening....This is like bragging and demanding and inconvienent the roommate to leave so he can have sex that night. Then he goes and kill himself because they all saw it on webcam? Why don't a shy guy have sex where nobody close knows about?
ChrisWanker - If you had read the story, you'd know that these individuals are already charged with a criminal offense, not a civil one.
Yes, the parents may sue as well, but apparently in N.J. invasion of privacy, especially on this level (surreptitious video-taping), and it should be.
I guess that you have never shared a room or an apartment with another person. Requests to have the room for a few hours are not invitations to spy. They are attempts to have privacy under difficult living conditions.
Good posts, dman. I don't know of anyone who would want their private moments shared with the world on the internet. It's a terrible thing that those who Clementi thought were his friends betrayed him in this manner. Even worse that Clementi chose suicide as a way out of the humiliation he was feeling. Private moments are just that - private - no matter who it involves or what is happening and are not meant to be broadcast. At 18, some are not mature enough to realize that "this too shall pass" and become forgotten.
dman,
Obviously I didn't care enough to read the article thoroughly.
God will get all of them.
Notice how african american kids who are bullied get attention and therefore help due to press being around but the only white kids being bullied you will ever hear about are the ones that are dead. I have proof of a school district punishing my son for reporting racially based bullying committed against him and other white kids. State and Fed gov let the district keep white victims out of classes and tell them they can not use any other restroom other than the nurse's restroom. I guess segregation is a race specific crime.
I don't think it matters at all that he was gay. What if it had been a very pretty, white, religious female that had a sexual encounter livestreamed for the entire world to see? How many young girls have committed suicide because cell phone pics get leaked? To me having a nude picture passed around is nothing at all compared to have something so private broadcast to everyone, without my knowledge or consent. I think that they SHOULD be held accountable, they are adults and they knowingly committed a crime. They can't be held accountable for the actual suicide, but they surely should be held responsible for violating his privacy and purposefully showing a very private situation.
At least one.
Hope Witsell
Jessica Logan
Those are the ones we know about--why do you ask?
The parents inflamed this by going into the media fray immediately following their tragedy. And this was truly a shame; the guy was young & talented and will now be missed.
Now let me play devil’s advocate for his roommate. I just got to college, meet my roommate. In less than two weeks he is kicking me out of my room for the third time to have night romps with other men?? I would be extremely upset; besides being against the norm it was extremely rude to your new roommate.
Most people would get tossed out of their school for pulling that, this kid was clearly not ashamed of his behavior to recklessly flaunt it in front of his whole dormitory. He shouldn't have been broadcast to other people but he really should have had better manners.
The fact that he took his life is regrettable but do not even try to tell the story different than this to the general public, he was not persecuted, he was being rude at 19yrs old and got checked for it. It’s called being a kid. Don’t now ruin these other two kids’ lives for this one kid’s shame. The broadcast wasn’t because he was gay, 19 yr olds just don’t care what your orientation/political/view/etc. is, remember that generation coming up simply has no morality; they don’t care about anyone but themselves. His parents taught him shame, not a couple of college kids.
Shenanigans. My first college roommate did this to me all the time. There were certainly times I didn't enjoy being kicked out of my room because I'd rather have been sleeping, but frankly being kicked out beat the time she assumed I was sleeping and got busy in the top bunk with me there. Its what happens when you share a room with someone and you have no real privacy. I wouldn't have dreamed of broadcasting her activities to the rest of the campus whether she was banging another girl, 2 guys or one of each. What she did was her business and no one else's whether it inconvenienced me or not. My solution was to request a room change at the semester break. This is what normal people do.
I had a gay roommate in college. He was cool and everything, but after coming back from a night out on several occassions to the sound of manly grunts and the stench of buttcrack and astroglide, I asked for another dorm room. For my trists, I showed him as much respect as I could and would 'schedule' my private time so to be sure he wouldn't have to see it/hear it/ smell it. He didn't do the same for me.
But, with that said, I respected his privacy and wouldn't consider broadcasting it for everyone to see. That is violating and dishonorable, regardless of the situation.
I don't think the accused should be prosecuted in relation to the guy's suicide. The accused's actions were indeed douchebaggery, but not suicide-worthy by any means. The victim totally overreacted (understatement of the year award). They should definitely still face charges on their invasion of privacy.
Another example that social networking is nothing but trouble....people act before thinking without realizing the possible end result...dumba$$es...
The "social network" that broadcast that crap should be held liable for suicides. They are no different than the major TV networks that seem to be able to police the content shown there.
God, this is college... you're supposed to do this stuff. Maybe if people wouldnt pamper their kids and let them grow up tough they wouldnt kill themselves? Ever think about that? I got bullied in school and when i joined the military and I wouldnt take it back for the world. It made me a MAN which is more than i can say about alot of these girls.
I also agree with the parents. While the roommate may not have been responsible for the death, I believe he did play a huge role in the young man's suicide. Everyone has the right to privacy, and for someone to invade that intimacy especially when it deals with a taboo subject like homosexuality. Regardless of how liberal our nation maybe, in all honesty, homosexuality is still a very controversial subject. It is one that can, as here, result in very horrific consequences.
So all gay should kill themselves, due to the horrific consequences it causes?
The roommate is responsible for the death. He would be alive today if he didn't do what he did with the video.
You don't know that... more was wrong with him then GAYNESS!!!
Maybe the gay kid should have shot his roommate to prove his manliness.(sarc)
Then the nutcases would be shouting from the rooftops about how they should execute all gays because they're a menace to society Robert... oh wait a lot of them are doing that now. Sorry..
(sarc)=sarcasm. To be read with a grain of salt.
It's a SHARED dorm room. While I think this is a terrible tragedy, speaking impartially and irrespective of the man's sexuality and/or ability to cope, the family shouldn't be able to file charges regarding violation of privacy when none is expected nor legally guaranteed in that environment.
Comment # 25 deleted. Don't use anti-gay slurs please, aprender a hablar español america.
You are suspended for a day for violating rule # 5 of the Code of Honor.
It doesn't matter that the dorm room is shared. Public bathrooms are also "shared." They do not belong to the individual--but the individual who shuts the door of a stall then has a reasonable expectation of privacy. Even a person who is taking a leak in a men's bathroom at a urinal with no stall has a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Further, the point is that one cannot take video of other people in sexual situations and run it on the Internet without the other person's consent. In some states, one cannot even make an audio recording of another person without that person's consent--at all--much less broadcast it.
It is not as though the young man was having sex in a bathroom stall--but even if he had been, depending on the state, anyone who made a video and streamed it on the Internet would be in violation of the law. Unless you want to argue that a person who is taking a leak in a public bathroom can have a camera turned on him and have his image broadcast live on the Internet, then your argument is flawed.
It takes two to tango. The other person involved in this little escapade was also caught by the web cam. I do not hear anything about him committing suicide...
EXACTLY!!!
aprender & dnimerick ~~ Sounds like both of you could benefit from a course in HUMAN DIGNITY. You both are seriously lacking. While you're at it, maybe you could learn a little kindness, tenderness, fcompassion, fellow feeling, acceptance and just some plain ol' common sense.
App and Dim: You two girls really have a a logic problem. Did you know that today 1.3 billion Chinese did NOT kill themselves, so it proves that many people do not need to kill themselves? That "logic" is just as faulty as yours.
Yes, there was someone else in the room. Do you know his name? If not, ummm, there's the answer why that person did not commit suicide.
Have a great day.
First of all nothing is wrong with anyone who is gay it is what it is and they are who they are gay! However people have the right to bring that out when they see fit! To have it forced upon them is cruel and unjustified! It can have obvious challenges and when forced can cause irreprable harm! I feel that criminal charges should be brought. The 2 students involved were not only cruel and callus in their behavior and judgment but also close minded and immature! I feel the university did the right thing in dismissing them and feel that not only should they do jail time since their actions ended with a persons life but i also feel that they should have to participate in programs speaking to kids about what they did and why it is not ok! The only thing better than prison i can see for these 2 is for them to have to stand before an autitorium of high school kids repeatedly every year explaining when they did and why it was wrong and try to keep this from happening to others! What better punishment than to help educate others and prevent it from happening in the future! Community service wouls be a fabulous addition to their probation after some jail time!!!!!
I do however feel that they should be held accountable by the right people first! They should have their day in court like anyone else! If found guilty then my opinion would be as stated above! Sorry figured i should make that clear after rereading made it sound like i was assuming guilt before trial!
Some of the comments here show an almost inhumane lack of compassion.
Compassion would interfere with an intelligent debate? Only if your value system does not include "compassion."
We base our arguments on our values--and if one's values includes compassion, then that should factor in. Wouldn't it be nice if you actually understood how rational argument works?
Everybody posts pictures of everybody on facebook. There is no expectation of privacy.
He was in his own house though, so there is an expectation there, but it is not a constitutional right. It will depend on how the video was obtained. The pubishment will be some low level misdemeanor for trespassing or something related. It will probably be considered a prank, not bullying because it is not continuous nor malicious.
He was taped because it is fun to tape people having sex. Happens all the time.
Now, the guy killed himself because he was embarrased. We are all embarrased everynow and then, but not all of us kill ourselves. So these guys are not guilty of killing him.
I disagree with you that it was not malicious.
If YOU find it 'fun' to surreptitiously tape others having sex, then publish the video to humiliate them, I hope you find yourself in jail.
It is fun to tape people having sex? Really? There is a person who is either already in jail or was prosecuted for turning a camera on a pair of individuals who were going at it in a bathroom, with the curtains open, near a pool that was accessible to children.
While one can call the police and complain about such a situation, one cannot make a recording if the recording is not known by the people who are being recorded and they have not consented. Well, depending on the state.
You might want to check into the laws in your state--as it sounds like you might be in danger of being prosecuted and winding up as a sex offender. Just FYI.
"He was taped because it is fun to tape people having sex. Happens all the time. " REALLY?? It's really an indication of how this country's young people are showing not only a lack of manner but also of boundaries! If this "happens all the time", and this is an indication of the caliber of kids coming out of college today, this country is in REAL trouble!
I hope these 2 "fun" seekers are convicted criminally and civily.