The American Gossip Epidemic
One year ago tomorrow will be the anniversary of the death of Tyler Clementi. We've seen a huge rise in public awareness of bullying, and many organizations have launched in reaction to his death. I thought it appropriate to dig out this old post of mine from last year...
I lived the second half of my adolescent life in a small town called Ridgewood, New Jersey. My house being just one town over, most of my afternoons and evenings were spent at the Ridgewood movie theatre, the Starbucks, and the vintage shop across the railroad tracks. I had many significant childhood moments there; midnight sneak-aways for frozen yogurt at TCBY with mom, 5-hour long writing sessions (of my first script) at Starbucks, teenaged kisses, shopping with close friends, and after-school ice cream breaks at Haagen Daaz. I went to my first party with alcohol in Ridgewood. I had sleepovers and homework cram sessions, went to football games and youth group, I had days when I was on the top of the world, and days when I wished the world would swallow me up-- the way one can only wish when they are 16. My life was extremely ordinary in that regard. There have been and will be so many New Jersey teens who experience these things in that tiny town. One of these teens was Tyler Clementi.
At just the tender 18 years of age, and a freshman at Rutgers U, Tyler felt that wave of despair the way so many of us did when we were bullied, humiliated, rejected and exposed, and Tyler decided that he couldn't take it anymore.
See the whole post on Joy's blog
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