The Boston Health Commission, Division of Violence Prevention, has launched a four-year study on youth dating violence. To find out how teens feel about violence in relationships, they surveyed 200 Boston youth, between 12 and 19, during the period of Feb. 13 to 20, 2009. The topic for youths to comment on was the recent incident involving Chris Brown and Rihanna. A total of 100 percent of the teens surveyed knew about the situation.

The following is a summary of their findings:  

• 71% said arguing was a normal part of a relationship.
• 44% said fighting was a normal part of a relationship.
• 51% said Chris Brown was responsible for the incident.
• 46% said Rihanna was responsible for the incident.
• 52% said both individuals were to blame for the incident, despite knowing at the time that Rihanna had been beaten badly enough to require hospital treatment.
• 35% said the media were treating Rihanna unfairly.
• 52% said the media were treating Chris Brown unfairly.

In addition, a significant number of both boys and girls who participated in the survey said Rihanna was destroying Chris Brown's career. Interestingly enough, the girls weren’t anymore likely than the boys to come to Rihanna's defense. In addition, many teens believed that the reason Chris Brown was so angry was because Rihanna had given him a herpes or another STD.

I hope, as a result of this poll, the city of Boston will implement an education program for teens on dating and violence.

I also think it depends on what you see growing up. Many kids see their parents fighting and they grow up to think that's normal.

I also don't think it's a good idea to fight in front of your kids. It's upsetting to small children. They don't understand what's going on and it stresses them out.