Tyler Clementi's Parents Launch New Campaign To End Bullying

Joe and Jane Clementi keep fighting the good fight.

It is going on five years ago that the phone in their Ridgewood house rang with news no parent ever expects, or wants, to hear.

It was the Port Authority Police Department. They said they found Tyler’s wallet and cell phone. His body was found in the Hudson River a week later.

The Clementis recently appeared on “CBS This Morning” to discuss their son and a new initiative of the Tyler Clementi Foundation.

The Clementis told Erin Moriarty on the program that they are “not even close” to being healed.

“I don’t know what healed will be like. I don’t know that there is a word for healing,” Jane Clementi said. “I think it’s learning to live through the pain.”

The foundation rolled out a new campaign this month called Day 1.

“What we’re trying to do is end online and offline bullying - in schools, workplaces, and faith communities,” said Sean Kosofsky, head of the foundation.

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.

“A lot of young people do not hear a person in authority make a clear statement about what is expected of them or what won’t be tolerated.”

The Clementis stress the need for parents to talk to their bullied children about what they are going through.

“Don’t underestimate what your child is going through,” Joe Clementi said. “Even though you may not think it’s a big deal, they may think it’s the end of the world.”

(Pictured: Tyler Clementi/Patch file photo)