Tyler Clementi Internet Safety Institute Launched To Help Cyberbullying Victims, Report Says

Tyler Clementi committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge about five years ago.

Clementi’s parents helped launch the Tyler Clementi Institute for Internet Safety at New York Law School with the help of the Tyler Clementi Foundation, which they run, a report by The Record states; the institute is the first of its kind in the country.

The institute’s mission is to train lawyers in all 50 states to advocate on behalf of cyberbullying victims in schools, companies, and in the court system, according to the report.

Clementi, a Ridgewood native, had just started his freshman year at Rutgers University when his roommate video-streamed him having a romantic encounter with another man in their dorm room; Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22, 2010.

Dharun Ravi, the roommate, was found guilty of invasion of privacy and bias intimidation. He served a 20-day jail sentence, was fined, and ordered to do community service, and put on probation.

The institute’s launch was announced this weekend during the Tyler Clementi Internet Safety Conference at the New York Law School.

According to information presented at the conference, more than half of children between 8 and 17 years old are worried about being bullied online, the report states.

The internet safety institute is not the first partnership between the foundation and a institute of higher education.

The Tyler Clementi Foundation and Rutgers University launched the Tyler Clementi Center at the university, which focuses on helping students to transition living at home to living at schoolege.

Ari Waldman, the institute’s founder and director and associate professor at New York Law School, describes the institute as “a full service education and direct outreach initiative that, among other things, includes the only pro bono law school clinic representing victims of cyberharassment for free.”

The foundation also rolled out a new campaign in June called Day 1.

Day 1 encourages people to stand up on their first day or work, school, or any new social situation and promise to not treat anybody differently because of who they love, how they dress, or what their body looks like.