Bullying is unacceptable in any circumstance. The reason why so many teens and children get bullied is because they are different, these ‘differences’ caused far too many suicide deaths in the last 3 years. One major difference why teens and children get bullied is because they are gay. The media have put out these problems and although is shocked many people, it wasn’t until celebrities started speaking out about it that these issues became very real to the public.
In 2012, a university student named Tyler Clementi (18), committed suicide by jumping to his death from the George Washington Bridge. What caused this was a video of him involved in sexual activities with another boy via a live stream on the internet that his roommate passed onto other students of Rutgers University in New Jersey not only once, but twice. The students then bullied him about the incident as they did not know he was homosexual. Tyler was angered about the incident, posting in a gay sex forum and then deciding to post on social networking site Facebook that he was “jumping of gw bridge sorry”.
Does this mean technology has gone too far? Invading someone’s privacy and causing them harm and evidently death? I think we all know that answer, and the answer is yes. In this case, technology was the tool in the boys death. With this type of technology causing people deaths we have to think, how do we know it won’t happen again? Would the students had bullied a straight male if he was seen kissing a girl? The answer is no. This is because straight males would be seen as ‘heroic’, but homophobic non sense caused this boys death.
Ellen Degenere’s support for the gay community came forward once more when she spoke out about the death of not only Tyler Clementi, but also the other teens that have committed suicide, and the ones we do not hear about. She used her power to speak out on the issue and made people face it. If something is put in front of your face, you can not run and hide from it, because it is real and it’s happening whether you like it or not.
When will this homophobic stance come to an end? Because these kids are learning it from somewhere and they need to be taught acceptance, love and unity. The media needs to act more like Degeneres and teach individuals to be nice to each other, and not hate one another for being different.
