I've never shied away from tackling controversial subjects in my novels.  I want readers to be entertained by my work, but I also want them to close the pages and perhaps start a conversation prompted by one of my characters or the scenarios in which they find themselves.

In my latest release, Pabby's Score , I bring the phenomenon of Internet dating into my focus.  However, there is another type of interaction through social media that is much more negative in its intentions and the entire country was talking about it thanks to a New Jersey courtroom this past week.  I'm referring to the epidemic of cyberbullying.

Former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi was found guilty of invasion of privacy and bias intimidation, as well as multiple other offenses, after he spying on his roommate using a webcam and witnessed the student having sex with another man.  The roommate, Tyler Clementi, took his own life by jumping off the George Washington Bridge in New York City, after he discovered that his sex life was now the source of amusement for Ravi and his friends.

Ravi now faces up to ten years in prison and possible deportation to his native India.  His sentence will be determined in May.

I am sure that most of you have heard about this case and probably have your own opinions about it.  Was the spying and subsequent "tweeting" just the act of an immature college student, as Ravi's attorney argued, or malicious and criminal behavior, as was determined by the jury?  How does this case reflect a larger issue about the impact that technology is having on this young generation to interact with others appropriately?

James Ross
Author of Lifetime Loser , Finish Line , Tuey's Course , Opur's Blade , and Pabby's Score
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Website: http://www.authorjamesross.com/
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