Suicide, Manslaughter, & Bullying: Extreme Realities

The subject of bullying, cyber bullying, and suicide is an extremely touchy, emotional subject. Throughout this story, I had an uneasy gut feeling. I felt enraged, but tried to read the whole thing before making a judgment. I had emotional feelings towards Ravi and Tyler as well as moral or logical viewpoints, which constantly conflicted each other.

Ravi As Innocent

Although it appears obvious that Ravi invaded privacy with the webcam viewing, and also has a past of ‘mean’ text messages with others and posts on Twitter, Ravi cannot be held accountable for a suicide that is Ravi should not be charged with Manslaughter. Ravi, like many people, has made cruel jokes, especially when encouraged by peers, but never deliberately tried to hurt Tyler. There was no constant harassment directly sent to Tyler, and Ravi never made threats or such cruel comments as “no one would care if you died” like some people do online. Ravi showed guilt and remorse in the text he sent to Tyler, which is not the normal process of a killer. “I’m sorry if you heard something distorted and disturbing…I’ve known you were gay and I have no problem with it. In fact one of my closest friends is gay and he and I have a very open relationship. I just suspected you were shy about it which is why I never broached the topic. I don’t want your freshman year to be ruined because of a petty misunderstanding, it’s adding to my guilt. You have a right to move if you wish but I don’t want you to feel pressured to without fully understanding the situation.” Ravi admits to being mean and a nuance, but also seems to show that he cares. It’s also interesting to contemplate the idea if Tyler had ever considered suicide previously? Would this make Ravi’s actions less extreme?

Ravi As Guilty

Ravi not only shows a past of cruelty, meanness, and discrimination towards gays, but also made the conscious choice to set up web cam viewings and alert friends and acquaintances online. He completely exposed and embarrassed Tyler in way deemed much more that inappropriate but extremely cruel in intention. The fact that Wei agreed to testify against him shows that even she thinks he should be held accountable. Ravi feels no remorse or emotion on that note, towards Tyler’s suicide and doesn’t feel accountable for anything, which shows even more about his cold heart and cruel intentions. The constant bombardment of online postings must have hurt Tyler so bad and these means of communication count as cyber bullying. Ravi should be held accountable for Ravi’s death.

My Opinion

In considering the entire story, I feel there is a middle ground to be reached. Whether this is how the law works, I do not know, but this is my personal opinion. Manslaughter is a very intense charge, and although is exits rightfully so, I do not think Ravi murdered Tyler. His intentions were not that malicious that he wished Tyler dead. However, bullying and cyber bullying (especially that aimed at gay teens) is also a serious matter that should not be overlooked and Ravi did engage in a form of this. Depression and suicide are also severe realities. Invasion of privacy is real thing, and definitely Ravi should be accountable for this. Based on what was said above in the text message sent to Tyler, it’s hard to tell if Ravi felt remorse or if he does not feel accountable at all, as he did not take the bargains offered to him during trial. Ravi should face jail time, charges, and therapy, as this will give him plenty of time to reflect on his actions and face the repercussions of his meanness, invasion of privacy and bullying. However, I don’t necessarily know if Ravi should be charged with intentional manslaughter. To make a more full decision, I would want to know more about the trial and witness’s testimonies.