Presidential Campaign Negatively Affecting Kids, Bergen Foundation Finds

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. — A new poll commissioned by the Tyler Clementi Foundation found that more than half of registered voters surveyed believe the language and tone of the presidential campaign is making children mean.

Fifty-three percent of the 1,427 people questioned on the phone answered "yes" when asked if they "believe the polarizing language being used in this presidential election is spilling over to young people and creating more meanness," the foundation said in a statement Oct. 13.

Fifty-seven percent of women asked answered "yes," compared to 47 percent of men.

Democrats were more likely than Republicans to believe in a spillover effect; 68 percent of Democrats answered "yes," while just 38 percent of Republicans did.

“We are not surprised that the larger media environment is affecting people,” said Jane Clementi, founder of the Tyler Clementi Foundation and mother of Tyler Clementi. “Adults are worried that when adults model nasty or negative behavior, it will impact our youth.”

Tyler Clementi killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge after his Rutgers roommate, Dharun Ravi, filmed him having intimate encounters with another man in 2010.

Clementi's parents, Joe and Jane, created the Tyler Clementi Foundation, which works to address bullying and issues gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people face.

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Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton — By Gage Skidmore, used with permission via Creative Commons license