“Music can change the world because it can change people.”
That’s a quote that’s been attributed to Bono, lead singer for the rock group U2. Who knows how many lives Tyler Clementi would have changed if the world hadn’t lost him at such a young age. A freshman At Rutgers University, Clementi committed suicide on Sept. 22 by jumping off the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River. He was 18 years old.
Tyler is being described as “a fine young man, and a distinguished musician…who, by all accounts, was brilliant, talented and kind.” Beyond what’s being reported in the news I know absolutely nothing about Tyler. So I choose to focus on a photo that accompanied an article that I read on the internet about his tragic death.
The photo shows Tyler playing a violin, with a seemingly pleasant and easy-going passion. If you look closely you can see the delight on his face from doing something that he loved deeply. Another musician that played alongside Tyler in the Rutgers Symphony Orchestra revealed that during the hours preceding Tyler’s death the two of them rehearsed works by Berlioz and Beethoven.
His fellow musician went on to say that Tyler “loved music,” and that Tyler was “…very dedicated. I couldn’t tell if anything was wrong.”
Who knows. Maybe Tyler knew that he would change people with the powerful music of memories…
The Muse Minefield 
When a death video goes viral
Tags: Culture, Dayna Kempson-Schacht, Ethics, Family, Love, Marriage, Morals, Relationships, Religion, Society, Spirituality, suicide, Technology, Tyler Clementi
“For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.”
Proverbs 1:16
There are few things more precious than a Mom and Dad’s memories of their children, of guiding them through the laughter and the crying, the discoveries and the disappointments. Watching the twinkle of innocence in their little infant eyes develop into the sparkle of wonder and anticipation during the years of adolescence, to become the brilliant star of a promising adulthood.
When those memories are unconscionably violated by images that are impossible to erase it is nothing short of an abominable tragedy.
When I came across the news story that the parents of Dayna Kempson-Schacht received a graphic video of her just moments after her fatal car accident, and that the video had been posted online, the first question that popped into my mind was: Why would anyone want to do that? How can someone be so callous and insensitive as to send grieving parents a fresh reminder of such a devastating loss?
It was suggested that the video was sent to the parents only to make them aware that the video existed. OK, I can see warning the parents that the video existed, but did they have to send them the actual video? I guess that one person’s good intention is another person’s grievous invasion, separated only by the thin line of common sense, or lack thereof.
But is it merely a lack of common sense, or something deeper and darker?
With this incident coming on the heels of the coverage of the Tyler Clementi story I’m certain that the conversation regarding the sometimes catastrophic combination of technology and temptation will intensify. The thing is that while technology presents its own set of temptations it is simply modernizing those temptations that have plagued mankind since the beginning of time.
But right now my thoughts and prayers are with Dayna’s parents. I can only imagine that the day that they received the video they woke up determined to get through another day, armed with only the loving and lasting memories of their daughter. I’m sure that it never occurred to them that they would be dragged down into someone else’s spiritual poverty.
I figure that someone has to be living a pretty miserable life to pull a stunt like that. But like my mother has always said: Misery loves company.