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When Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards, it launched a massive debate among all ages about whether the superstar should face consequences for his actions.
Here’s a quick recap of what happened:
Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, apparently unaware that she suffers from alopecia.
Chris Rock: “Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.”
When Will Smith noticed that his wife was very definitely not laughing, he walked on stage and smacked Rock very hard across the face. Smith then returned to his seat and yelled twice to Rock:
Will Smith: “Keep my wife’s name out of your f—- mouth.”
The audience was stunned, apparently, the Academy asked Smith to leave, but he refused. Now the Academy’s Board of Governors is initiating disciplinary proceedings.
All of this is unfolding and our kids are paying close attention.
My son’s class had a discussion about it. Some kids – a surprising number of them – said that Will Smith was completely within his rights to deck Chris Rock. He was just defending his woman.
Others – including my son, which made me proud – insisted that violence is never, ever the answer. In any case, the kids noticed. And they had opinions about it.
Later that night, my son and I brainstormed what else Will Smith could have done. He could have walked out of the room. He could have spoken with Rock after the ceremony. He could have made a public statement denouncing Rock’s joke and made a donation to an alopecia charity and asked Rock to match it.
But he hit him.
It’s not exactly the lesson we want our kids to learn.
Should Will Smith’s Academy Award be taken away? I don’t really think so. There are plenty of actors throughout history who shouldn’t have won awards if it was based on their personal conduct.
But should there be consequences? Real ones? Absolutely. If only to teach our kids what we teach them at home: Use your words, and violence is never, ever the answer.
