A public service announcement  about domestic violence allows young boys to slap their female peers? Seems unreal to most people judging from their surprised responses to a video posted by a Facebook page, Fanpage.it. So why would a group trying to create an anti-domestic violence video encourage it? Fanpage.it explained it as a social test to see how young boys react to violence against women.

The video begins with numerous young boys no older than eleven. They are asked simple questions such as their names and how old there are. They are then presented with a young girl named Martina. Besides her name no other information is presented. The boys are then asked what they like about her. Although bashful they respond with things like “I like you hair” and “you’re pretty”. They are then asked to touch her face and hair; this is met with a mostly embarrassed reaction from the boys although they comply. The next thing they are asked to do is the most bizarre. They are asked to slap Martina. The boys (thankfully) refuse. They responded with things like “boys don’t hit girls” and even “I’m a man.” Then the video ends.

This question that is arising is, is this video heartwarming or sick? The video was clearly made to represent the innocence of young boys who can’t fathom the idea of hitting a girl. A boy isn’t supposed to hit a girl. The idea that a young boy could “be a man” and not hit a girl while a male twice his age couldn’t. It seemingly has a heartwarming message to it. But some don’t see this video as heartwarming. They feel it highlights the objectification of women and stereotypes young boys. They highlight this by saying that Martina was never introduced like the boys were. All we know about her is her name, not her age or interests. The boys only note on her physical appearance. Is this not objectification. This video on other terms could be teaching boys to only focus on outer appearance. Really they didn’t learn much about domestic violence. The video doesn’t highlight the mind set of those that commit the crimes.

Overall the responses were mixed and there is no set answer on if this video was right or wrong. The message was overall intended to be positive by highlighting that domestic violence is wrong and if children can realize this, why can’t adults?