Focus on preventing bullying incidents like the case that happened at Rutgers University in September and gained national attention continues.
The Plainsboro Police Department has announced it received a $5,000 “Bias Prevention and Education Grant” from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office — the office that is prosecuting the cyber-bullying case against the two High School North graduates involved in that Rutgers case.
The grant is divided between high-profile crime prevention patrols and education.
For the education side of the grant, Plainsboro Police will use the money to bring in Paula C. Rodriguez Rust, a sociologist, diversity educator, and bullying prevention specialist, who will present “Aim Higher,” a biased-based bullying assembly for all high school students at North.
The presentation will cover all forms of diversity, including race/ethnic/cultural, religious, appearance and body type, gender identity, sexual orientation, social class, and disability, according to a press release from the police department. “Students will also learn the importance of respect, how their words and actions affect others, and how they can help make their school environment one in which all students feel safe and comfortable,” stated police.
The issue of cyber-bullying has been a hot topic around the nation since the Rutgers incident in September, when Dharun Ravi, 18, of Plainsboro, and Molly Wei, 18, of West Windsor, both freshmen at Rutgers, were charged with allegedly using a web camera in Ravi’s dorm room to secretly transmit images of his roommate’s sexual encounter with another man live on the Internet.
Their alleged victim, Tyler Clementi, a gay freshman from Ridgewood, committed suicide, adding questions of whether their actions warrant an upgrade to a hate crime consideration.
