When is it OKAY to Hit?

Okay so I'm sure everyone has heard the recent news about the Rihanna and Chris Brown incident. It has been all over the news, Photo of Rihanna's Beaten Face Leaked to Media, Shocking Pictures of Rihanna, Beaten by Chris Brown and many more. Kids everywhere see these headlines and of course read the articles and look at the pictures because they like Rihanna and Chris Brown’s music. Kids all around the world look up to both of these entertainers, and the media surrounding them both only negatively affects how children think about abuse.

There was a study done in Boston that says, “Half of Boston teens blame Rihanna for Chris Brown beating”.

“The survey of 200 Boston youths age 12 to 19 found that 51% said Brown bore responsibility, 46% said Rihanna was responsible, and 52% said both were to blame for the incident. In addition, 52% said the media were treating Brown unfairly, and ‘a significant number of males and females’ surveyed said Rihanna was destroying Brown's career.”

If kids think that this beating is okay and Rihanna deserved it, how do they feel about other cases of abuse? What do these kids think if they are to get abused? Are kids around the world being abused and believing that they deserved the abuse? No one ever deserves abuse, ever. How do these kids learn to feel that Rihanna deserved her beating?

Media, plain and simple. The violence that is portrayed through media is the sole reason for children violence. Video games show the abuse of women, the abuse of animals, and the abuse of people from every walk of life. These video games such as “Grand Theft Auto” and “True Crime: New York City”. Both of these games teach children how to kill and that it is okay to just walk up to someone hit them in the face and walk away like everything is okay. Children learn from what they see and what they do, and they are essentially doing these video games.

It is never okay to beat someone, ever. Rihanna, you did nothing wrong. Chris Brown, you did. People have no right to hit anyone anytime. Children need to be taught this simple fact, and it is the parent’s job to teach it. The media needs to rewrite what games children are allowed to play, the rating system and even the issues that are brought up in these games.