TYLER CLEMENTI'S SUICIDE: THE TERROR OF TECHNOLOGY

We continue to hear about the tragic fate of our youth being victimized by fellow students who bully, tease, assault and humiliate.  The latest victim, Tyler Clementi, was a gifted music student at Rutgers Uinversity.  While our nation continues to reckon with international issues of terrorism, it is more and more apparent that a new form of terrorism exists in our own backyard.... And the weapons of destruction are our very own tools of technology, in the form of cell phones, laptops, cameras, webcams, and more. 

As our technology becomes more sophisticated in helping us to be more productive, more connected and more entertained, we have clearly enabled the dysfunctional members of our society to exploit this technology.  As a result we are facing near epidemic levels of emotional and physical damage to our youth.  It is time now to create real and tangible means of controlling this hazardous byproduct of our ever evolving technology. 

Of course, there are many factors that must be dealt with in these circumstances, including creating legislation to better protect our people's basic civil rights and shield them from bodily harm.  It includes educating our children in the classroom at an early age to truly have empathy, acceptance, respect and compassion for their peers, regardless of the differences that exist between them.  It includes our religious advisors, teaching tolerance of all religion, in and out of our country, and certainly within our communities. And finally, it requires all parents to lay the foundation within the home, and actively reinforce the work being done outside of the home.

However, we must now be sure to incorporate a focus on the technology itself, so that we cultivate nothing short of safe, reasonable and civil applications of these instruments when we design programs in the schools and create  policy in the courts and in our homes.