Teenage Girls Stand by Their Man

Just read an interesting article about the pop singer Chris Brown, 19, who faces two felony charges for allegedly beating his girlfriend, the pop singer Rihanna, 21 (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/fashion/19brown.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&th&emc=th ). In this article many of the girls defended Chris Brown and were angry at Rihanna.

“I thought she was lying, or that the tabloids were making it up,” one girl said.
Even after they saw a photo of Rihanna’s bloodied, bruised face, which had raced across the Internet, they still defended Mr. Brown. “She probably made him mad for him to react like that,” the other ninth grader said. “You know, like, bring it on?”

I don’t know what the true circumstances wee of this particular case, but I do know people often blame victims and protect aggressors. I have seen this in bullying situations, dating violence, and spousal abuse situations. For lessons on teaching empathy, friendship and respect go to http://www.balanceeducationalservices.com/resources.html