A Discussion of Technology’s Role in Bullying

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/nyregion/30suicide.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=rutgers suicide&st=cse&scp=3  

The New York Times article “Private Moment Made Public, Then a Final Jump”, written by Lisa Foderaro, covers the actions that led to a Rutgers student committing suicide by jumping off of the George Washington bridge.  This has been a prominent story and people are aware of the occurrence, but I wanted to take a moment to discuss the role of technology and the efforts of the university to address privacy issues.   Rutgers University had begun a project to promote civility across the campus, both in face to face interactions and in the online world.  This experience is demonstrating to people the real world impacts technology can have on people- in this case, technology provided a more damaging impact than a rumor would have been.  The old saying is that images are worth 1,000 words, and this particular image may have directly caused Mr. Clementi’s suicide.  The university will likely be contemplating a new policy concerning use of technology and responsibility of maintaining privacy.  This is going to be difficult, no matter what Rutgers or other school put into practice.   The difference I found in this story as opposed to the case of a teen suicide prompted by a mother bullying over the internet was the lack of sensationalism.   No longer are people debating the real world effects the internet and online technologies have on people, now there is more of a focus on what is the correct course of action when violations of this nature occur.