Friday, March 13, 2009

A Few Thoughts

The whole Chris Brown/Rhianna situation is driving me crazy. I am so fed up with the way the media is discussing this situation. I think this is a perfect opportunity to talk to teens about domestic violence, dating violence, etc. and the media is really missing the boat. With the way the media is discussing the situation are we really as a society teaching our children appropriately about violence? I don't think so.

First the media continues to say that it was a "fight". This doesn't make sense to me. A fight is when two people are fighting with one another. A woman being choked, bitten, and punched is not a fight. That is abuse! A woman cowering in a car while a man attacks her is not a fight again that is abuse. If Rhianna had been riding home in a limo and the limo driver did these same things to her the media would say that she was attacked! They would not say she was in a fight. Let's use the correct words here.

And if I hear one more person say that it was a mistake and Chris Brown is sorry I will scream. Mistakes are when you forget to pay your phone bill, you accidentally run a red light, you lock your keys in the car. You don't mistakenly hit someone in the face. You don't mistakenly bite someone. You don't mistakenly choke someone. You make a decision to do those things. So no Chris you didn't mistakenly think your girlfriend was a sandwich and bite her. You abused her!

So instead of making excuses for dating violence and teaching teenagers that this is acceptable behavior let's get real. Let's make it clear to our children that under no circumstances is it okay to abuse another person. At no point in time is it okay to stay in a relationship with someone that hurts you. That one time is to many and that you should leave. Instead of making this a glamorous event where the solution is a fancy vacation let's get real and talk about what services this young couple needs to utilize to move forward in a safe and healthy way. Let's be responsible adults and use this as an opportunity to teach our kids a lesson.

And seriously don't call it a fight!

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