In this heartwarming video, a group of young boys show men how to act. The group of Italian boys ages 6 to 11 are introduced to a young girl on the street. The boys are asked by the cameraman to caress her, compliment her, make her laugh, and finally, to slap her.
Their reactions are priceless, and their decision is unanimous. No way are they hitting a girl.
An Italian magazine’s anti-violence message – a powerful video in which young boys resist when told to slap a girl – has gone viral on social media.
Entitled “Slap Her” in English translations (“Dalle Uno Schiaffo,” “From A Slap”), the three-minute video was produced by Italian magazine Fanpage.
In the video, five different boys, ranging in age from seven to eleven, make small talk with an off-camera interviewer, identified by SBS News as Luca Iavarone. The boys entertain questions like “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Then, a girl is introduced: Martina, who looks to be slightly older than the boys. You can see immediately that the awkwardness between pre-adolescent boys and girls transcends cultures, as some of the boys giggle, some shy away (apparently “Cooties” exist in Italy, too), and one blurts out “I’d like to be your boyfriend.”
But the awkwardness and fun comes to an end when the interviewer abruptly tells them, “Now slap her. Hard.”
In an encouraging and uplifting turn of events, none of the boys hit the girl. The boys provide a variety of reasons, all of them touching.