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Student kills himself after gay sex footage put online

Some more background:

Tyler Clementi Turned To A Gay Message Forum For Help Before His Suicide - Kashmir Hill - The Not-So Private Parts - Forbes

He apparently found out about his roommate's spying prior to the second incident:


the following morning:


The guy seems calm and collected here, but it was that night that he ended up jumping.
 
It is the reactions that display nothing but cold contempt served up without even the tiniest shred of human decency that make no sense.

Well - he had problems that, like most other suicides, were around long before the last straw, I'm sure.
 

Yeah I seriously can't see this as the reason of his suicide. I mean heck they guy is even considering keeping him as a roommate after the first offence and then he is just pissed after the second. Not to mention he clearly states that nothing pornographic went out on the web, he gets rid of the camera and then he goes and has sex. As far as I can tell his roommate was just being a jerk, the kid set things in motion to get it taken care of. And he seems happy at the end of his post. I seriously can't see this as the reason for his suicide. And I can't see his roommates getting anything more then a fine and a slap on the wrist.
 
Moderator's Warning:
Folks, let's stay on topic here. The topic is not right-wing, conservatives, liberals, left-wing or each other.
 

I agree with that 100%, until it comes time to protect them from their own stupidity; which is impossible.
 

I think something else worked him up. Most likely it was something the RA or college said to him.

I agree with the article. He should have been removed from the room immediately. The college is liable.
 

I see it differently. My best friend killed himself in February. I don't see his life as a waste. He was a great friend who helped me out in a lot of situations, but I would never see his time with me as a waste. Depression also runs deep in my family as well so like you I can sympathize and empathize with them. But I would never see it as a waste of a life.
 
I agree with that 100%, until it comes time to protect them from their own stupidity; which is impossible.

Now that I have "young adult" children, I'm a bit conflicted on this.
Half the time I believe that adolescence is a social construct and that people actually become adults around or shortly after puberty and deserve adult rights and responsibilities.
The other half the time, I wish there was some special oversight and protection for young adults until, oh, about age 24. I wish we could sort of phase them into adulthood- into adult rights, responsibilities, and consequences- less abruptly.
 
I think something else worked him up. Most likely it was something the RA or college said to him.

I agree with the article. He should have been removed from the room immediately. The college is liable.

This seems extremely dubious. He reported it to the RA in the early hours of 9/22. When asked to describe how the RA responded, he said this:

he seemed to take it seriously...
he asked me to email him a written paragraph about what exactly happened...
I emailed it to him, and to two people above him....

He killed himself less than 24 hours later and before any further spying incidents happened. Given the information we have available, I can't imagine how the school would be at fault for this or what it should have done differently.
 

I blame the same crappy parenting that is leading to the decline in the education system and tragic parents on shows like Supernanny or that I witnessed firsthand at parks when out pl;aying with my kids. Overall, in the USA at least, Parents Suck Dick.
 

Go back and read it again. He posted this on the 21st.

I ran to the nearest RA and set this thing in motion…..
we’ll see what happens……

If this is true, he should have been out of that room before the 22nd. It seems like the RA did not take is seriously and asked him to send him an e-mail before he took it any further.

Edit: According to the time stamp on the post: "September 22nd, 2010, 03:38 AM". That is when he posted it, not necessarily when he reported to the RA.
 
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Yeah, looking at the boy's history, it's obvious "crappy parenting" is to blame.
Someone ought to prosecute the parents of the dead kid. :roll:
 

Okay not as a waste of life, but as a waste of potential then. People commit suicide and they throw it all away and leave everyone around them with the pieces. It destroys them and then it can also destroy those that knew them. It's just such a waste of potential, and I just can't stand that someone would do that.
 

Kids enter into adulthood shortly after puberty and should be treated as adults as far as being respected and being made responsible for their actions, so as to teach them how to respect others and deal with responsibility, but they shouldn't be given actual adult responsibilities until much later in life. I've always believed that if you want teenagers to act like adults you must treat them like adults, but you can't expect them to actually be adults until they have received years of training. That, "special oversight and protection", is called parenthood, i.e. training and takes place during the period between puberty and their graduation from high school.
 

What's an RA?
 
What's an RA?
Resident Administrator. He's a student that is more or less in charge of his floor. It's kinda like a squad leader in the military.
 
Go back and read it again. He posted this on the 21st.

That post is from September 22nd, 2010, 04:38 AM, which is the early hours of the 22nd like I said.

If this is true, he should have been out of that room before the 22nd.

What are you basing this on? From his own words, he says he spoke to the RA between the night of the 21st and the early morning of the 22nd. The RA asked him to give him a written account of the events to create a paper trail. The guy was dead by the night of the 22nd. I think it's unreasonable to assume that the school should have moved him immediately, particularly when the guy himself wasn't even sure if he wanted to move.


It seems like the RA did not take is seriously and asked him to send him an e-mail before he took it any further.

It's standard procedure to get things in writing to create a paper trail. Either way, he said that the RA took it seriously. I'll trust his characterization of the RA's actions over that of someone who wasn't involved.
 
I think something else worked him up. Most likely it was something the RA or college said to him.

I agree with the article. He should have been removed from the room immediately. The college is liable.

Why would the RA or College care though? I can't see the College saying/doing anything against him, especially not for anything so trivial as being gay. And if it was something else that pushed him over then it doesn't matter that his room mate was being a jerk and a perv so there is no sense in removing him immediately.
 

If they had lived, they might never have done anything else of value.
We all die. A human life is relatively brief, in the grand scheme of things. Objectively speaking.
The value of a life is not determined by whether the individual in question kills himself at 20 or dies of rectal cancer at 66.
In a hundred years, not only will we all be dead but so will everyone who ever knew us personally, and what will it matter, anyway?
 
It all depends on what the college and/or RA knew or should have known. If they knew that the roommate was surreptitiously broadcasting sexual encounters without the consent of those involved (unless they were minors and thus unable to consent), they most likely have a fiduciary duty to intervene.
 
Resident Administrator. He's a student that is more or less in charge of his floor. It's kinda like a squad leader in the military.

I see. Do these RA's have any real training, or are they just there to keep the kids from getting out of hand?

I reckon if an RA is in charge of a single floor, there is someone in charge of the entire dorm?

Are these folks students, or working professionals?
 
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I will agree with that. I will be happy if I never have to go through another suicide ever again. And I would agree that it is a waste of potential. I may disagree with why some people commit suicide, but I do understand why some, especially my friend, do it.
 
I see. Do these RA's have any real training, or are they just there to keep the kids from getting out of hand?

Depends. Our RAs have training in First Aid, how to handle kids that are stoned off whatever drugs they are on. Stuff like that to keep the floor and students safe.
 
I see. Do these RA's have any real training, or are they just there to keep the kids from getting out of hand?
Depends on the college, but at my alma mater they had some training. I'm not sure how in-depth it was.
 

I assume most RA's are trained. Where I go the RA's have to take special classes along with their normal classes.

They are usually if not always students, they do get paid for it though.
 
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