It could be the endless stories spread around the media involving the Chris Brown and Rihanna drama – from death threats then pregnancy and marriage rumors to word of even a duet together – but the latest seems to show that the tables may have turned. At least in the eyes of some select Boston youth.
A survey conducted by the Boston Public Health Commission last month revealed that almost half of the city’s teens think Rihanna is to blame for the assault that allegedly took place on February 6th.
Of the 200 Boston youths (ages 12 to 19) surveyed, 51 percent said Chris Brown was responsible for the incident, while 46 percent said Rihanna was responsible and 52 percent said both were to blame.
Additionally, 52 percent said the media was treating Brown unfairly; 44 percent said fighting was a normal part of a relationship; and even more shocking is that a “significant” number of respondents said “Rihanna was destroying Chris Brown’s career.”
Women respondents blamed Rihanna just as much as men did.
Casey Corcoran, director of the commission’s Start Strong initiative told the Boston Herald that although the incident between the two celebrities took place all the way across the country, nearly 3,000 miles from Boston, “we do know that teen dating violence or intimate partner violence cuts across all cultures, classes, genders.”
Corcoran added that one in 10 Bay State youths has experienced some form of dating violence and that the publicized abuse case is a great opportunity to discuss the issue with young people who may face similar situations. For some, they believe the shocking results of the survey stem from teen’s inclination to be sympathetic to Brown because of his popularity and the “normalization of violence” in pop culture.
“Somehow young people have gotten the message that this is just part of a relationship” anti-violence advocate Deborah Collins-Gousby, who works at Casa Myrna-Vazquez, a Boston-based anti-violence organization that operates a 24-hour teen violence hotline and a citywide outreach program, told the Herald. “Brown is or had been promoted as the kid next door, he was familiar and likeable among teens, and I think their first reaction was, well, what did she do to deserve a beating that significant?”
While this could be the case or even an attempted explanation for the reason why the teens answered the way they did, teens who did not participate in the study told the Boston Herald that they were shocked with the findings. They found it was ridiculous to hold Rihanna responsible for being physically abused and that no matter what the fight was about, Brown should be to blame for this.
Our Take
There is never, EVER an excuse for domestic violence.
I truly think – like stated in many of the comments following the Herald’s article – that it would be interesting to know what types of homes these children came from where they were taught that abuse is acceptable, if and when it was warranted.
I highly doubt that a child brought up in a stable home with two loving parents--or even one--would feel the need to say that Rihanna deserved what happened to her. Studies like the one above not only worry me but lead me to believe that more education on issues like this are crucial to the social development of children and teens.
, Simba from Solomon.
Thanks in advance. Lora from Saudi.
