Judgement Handed Down In The Tyler Clemente Case

[Shol'va]

The Rutger's University student charged with streaming a classmates gay sexual encounter over the internet prior to his suicide. Dharun Ravi was given 30 days jail time and 3 years suspended sentencing. Does the punishment fit the crime? Yeah I think so. And as far as some saying he showed no remorse. Well he is a foreigner, raised in another country with different morals and values and maybe their men and boys aren't supposed to show it. My issue is that most folks don't know what closeted gay kids go through in their attempt to keep all their sex lives hidden and how easy it is for them to become unhinged when it's brought to light before they can mentally handle it all. This case is sad all around and Drarun showed a lack of judgement in doing what he did not to mention invasion of privacy and several other laws broken but it would serve no purpose to lock him up and throw away the key on an otherwise intelligent kid who had a severe lapse of judgement pushing Tyler Clemente over the edge. Hey if this guy had of done this to me at an early enough age I might have jumped off a bridge as well. But one doesn't have to be gay to be in a compromising situation and get it illegally filmed and shown all over the net to be pushed over the edge.

[JohnnyVegas]

I have not known how to feel about this from the beginning. I felt awful for Clemente, obviously. Such a shame. The rest is complicated. Ravi is a bully and a jerk, but I got the impression he was lashing out in an unacceptable way...as apposed to trying to push Clemente toward something as drastic as suicide.

This is another one of those, "if only..." stories. But we can't change the past, all we can do is learn from mistakes. I hope others have learned from the national news coverage that pushing a kid like that is unacceptable.

I look forward to the day when being gay (or being anything, for that matter) isn't a source of ridicule.

[kif]

30 days is a JOKE!!!!!! Some guy got 30 days here in NY for pissing in a public park. Should have at least been 12 months. I could go on and on but I just don't have the time right now

[cherrydrpepper]

I know this sounds really dumb but I am just not sure how to feel about it. I am an excellent judge of character - if I could have even a lunch with the guy who did the taping I could tell you if he's a major league ass hole or just some dumb kid who did something stupid. Either way what he did was morally wrong. I was bullied as a kid at different times because I was the smallest kid in class so I know how that feels and all. When I turn on the Anderson Cooper specials about stuff like this and other programs, honestly I have come pretty close to tears hearing the stories about all the young people who have killed themselves.

I can only speak from my own experience. I have always felt better when I confronted a bully. Many times the best way to handle a bully is not the direct route, but to wait until their guard is down. I took down my first bully at 6 years old on the school playground. He was a fat kid held back a year or two, about double the size of the average kid. He was shoving me from behind on the playground. I took it for a couple of days. When I saw my opportunity, I sprung. He was running by me and I stuck my leg out - KABOOOOM fat kid is eating grass making love to that shit like he was eating hot *****. He chased me around the playground. Teacher talked to us after and told us to knock it off. Never had a problem again.

[songdog]

Well if he was gay and proud he would be alive today.I dont think the guy got to much.Come out of the closet and live free