Jury Verdict Reached In Webcam Bullying Trial

Rutgers Freshmen Tyler Clementi and Dharun Ravi

A New Jersey jury has convicted Rutgers student Dharun Ravi on all 15 counts he faced of bias intimidation and invasion of privacy. Ravi, who used a webcam to spy on and humiliate his gay college freshman roommate, faces up to ten years in prison.

Ravi used his webcam to capture video images of his roommate, 18 year-old Tyler Clementi, kissing another man in his dorm room, and then he briefly broadcast the video online. Days after the incident, Clementi chose to take his own life by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. The jury verdict does not hold Ravi legally responsible for Clementi's death, but the jury was aware of the suicide and could certainly make the logical connection between the events.

Ravi, who is 18 years-old and a legal alien resident of the United States, could also be deported to his home country of India as a result of the verdict, despite the fact that he has lived in the U.S. legally since he was a small boy.

Despite the triumph of justice in this case, there is no cause for celebration. Clementi's short life has ended, Ravi's life has been devastated. There are no winners left standing here - only horrific lessons for all of us about the potentially tragic cost of bullying and the very intense personal and public dangers of bias and intolerance.

You can find out a little more here about the short life of Tyler Clementi, the boy who paid the biggest price in this sad case. You can learn more here about how to fight bullying in your community.

Bully - A Powerful Film To See and Share

Alex, 12, featured in Bully.

Remember the end of Karate Kid when the cruel and powerful blond guy "sweeps the leg" of a weak and injured Daniel Larusso, played by Ralph Macchio?

Daniel, barely able to stand, then musters all his remaining courage and strength, and delivers a perfect "crane" kick to the head of his opponent, sending him spiraling to the mat in defeat.

It would change things significantly if life worked like that when bullies pick on vulnerable kids - but that's not how it works, not usually, anyway.

In just a few days, we'll have a chance to see a film about what really happens when innocent kids are taunted and subjected to violence and humiliation at the hands of other young people. The documentary film Bully, which opens on March 30, follows the lives of five bullied children over the course of a single school year, and it offers us an unflinching view of the brutal impact bullying has on the mental and physical well-being of these kids and their families.

I could go on for hours about the importance of this film, but I'm confident the trailer below provides all the evidence needed to convinced you that you should not only see this movie, but also take your kids to see it, AND make sure everyone you know does the same. See for yourself.

Trouble viewing the video? Click the Bully Project Promo link below the clip.

The Bully Project Promo from Lee Hirsch on Vimeo.

Bully has received a great deal of advance press already, not because of its culturally significant content, but because it received an unfortunate "R" rating from the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). Because the film includes some video clips showing instances of real kids using the real curse words they use in real schools everyday across America, real kids who are under 17 will not be allowed to see this film without a parent. Additionally, the "R" rating greatly reduces the likelihood that this movie will be purchased by school libraries. In short, the "R" rating makes it much less probable that the kids who need to see this film most, both the bullies and the bullied, will have access to it.

The Sad Death and Short Life of Tyler Clementi

Tyler Clementi

Tyler Clementi was a gay eighteen year-old freshman at Rutgers University who was struggling to come to grips with his own sexual identity.

Dharun Ravi was Tyler's roommate, who along with his friend Molly Wei, used a hidden webcam to secretly record a dorm room sexual encounter Tyler had with another man.

Upon learning that Dharun and Molly planned to broadcast the video online, Tyler jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge in New York.

Today, nearly a year and a half after the suicide of Tyler Clementi, jury selection begins in the trial of Dharun Ravi, who is charged with bias intimidation, invasion of privacy, and hindering prosecution.

It's natural to be angry at those who bully others, and it's easy to be enraged by the continuing onslaught of gay teen suicides. What's far more difficult is to look closer at the real lives of those young people, who in the face of ultimate desperation, believed that only one path remained for them - and they killed themselves.

For us to honestly grasp what is sacrificed each time a young gay brother or sister believes suicide is the only way out, we must first seek to truly understand who we have lost.

James Clementi has recently published a series of short letters he wrote to his younger brother Tyler. His letters are not easy to read, but they are too important not to read, and they do a beautiful job of helping us fully realize what we all lost on September 22, 2010 - when Tyler jumped off that bridge and drowned in the Hudson River.

The letters from James to Tyler can be found here.



Related Posts: A 14 Year-Old Boy Is Dead, Jamie Hubley - Another Gay Teen Suicide, When "It Gets Better" Isn't Good Enough,