It really Is all about New Jersey

A tragedy occurred in New Jersey. Good things happen there too, but this is not one of them.

Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi, harassed by his roommate and another person. It is very easy to webcam someone, very easy to post it to YouTube. But does anyone think about the consequences? Will they now?

Tyler's roommate thought it would be "fun", I guess, to video his roommate doing it with another guy. I know college kids do weird and unusual things to each other, I know that they don't always think through the consequences. But when it leads to someone taking their own life, it is time for everyone to literally stop dead in their tracks and pause.

Tyler committed suicide, leaving even a text behind that he would be jumping off the George Washington bridge, and apologized.

I don't know his reasons. Maybe he was humiliated to be "outed". I'm sure embedded gay/lesbian constituencies will seek out this as the reason. Maybe it was that his intimate life was no one's business. I'm sure the embedded privacy community will attest to that and seek this out as the reason. Maybe he felt the public exposure would not allow him to show his face again on the New Brunswick campus, with his family, with his friends, with his teachers. Ouch, anyone can latch onto that as the reason.

All of these are good reasons. I just hope that, despite the embedded constituencies that will try to claim him, and use this to their political advantage, that every college student everywhere stops to think. What harm will happen if I post this on YouTube. Cute cats are fun to watch, so too unicorns that say outrageous things. Maybe that is harmless, though it does seem to suck a lot of time away (wasted? enjoyed? you decide).

But to publicly humiliate someone, to the point of suicide, that is not ok. Should the two perpetrators be prosecuted to the full extent of the law? Put in prison for 5 years to set an example for the world?

Not sure. The brave new online world continues to evolve, and continues to have consequences. We can't use that as an excuse. As with everything, "people before things". Just cause its fun or cool doesn't mean there aren't people underneath all that cool instant technology. Stop to think about people. Stop and say a silent prayer for Tyler.