Violence as Entertainment
It's Effect on Children

Todd Cushman

VS.

Description and Analysis

Every Monday night at 9pm, three to four million viewers tune in to TNN (The National Network) to watch "WWF Raw". On Thursday nights at 8pm, three to four million viewers tune in to UPN to watch "WWF Smackdown!". And again on Sunday nights at 7pm about a million viewers tune to MTV to watch "WWF Heat". These programs feature a genre called "sports entertainment". Throughout the programs the characters act out various storylines in which the solution to disagreements or dislike between individuals often ends in violence. The violence comes in the form of a wrestling "match" and backstage attacks. There are many types of "matches." Some of the more brutal matches are:

           Cage Matches -- Takes place in a steel cage, no escape and no rules.
                                      Expect to see blood in this match.
           Hardcore        -- You can run, but you can't hide. No rules.
                                      Weapons are allowed. Most common are steel folding
                                      chairs, tables, and trash cans. Bloodshed is common in
                                      these matches as well.
           TLC Matches -- In this case it stands for tables, ladders, and chairs (Oh
                                      my!). Expect to see people slammed through tables, hit
                                      with chairs, hit with ladders, and people falling off or
                                      jumping off ladders.

So what is this violent form of entertainment doing to the children that watch it? Do children understand that the violence potrayed in this type of programming is scripted? Do they understand that the moves and actions performed in the ring are extremly dangerous and could severly injure, paralize, or even kill someone? Let us take a look at what has been said about this issue...

Interpretation

It is no surprise that the WWF programming is considered extremly violent. One of the strongest opposers to this type of violent programming is the Parents Television Council. The PTC is a nonpartisan group, offering private sector solutions to restore television to its roots as an independent and socially responsible entertainment medium. More or less it monitors prime time television programs on the six major networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, UPN, and WB). They study, report, and rank the programs based on the level of violence, sex, and foul language. Hows does "WWF Smackdown!" rank on the PTC rating scale? Well, the PTC comes out with a report of the top 10 best and top 10 worst shows, in there opinion. This year "WWF Smackdown!" ranks as the second worst (behind "Boston Public") and the year before was the worst (since there was no "Boston Public"). It is in the opinion of the PTC that the violence seen on "WWF Smackdown!" can be very harmful and influencial to young children. To back up their opinion is a report, made by the American Psycological Association back in 1985. The APA came to the conclusion that violence viewed on television has three main effects on children:

           --Children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others
           --Children may be more fearful of the world around them
           --Children may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways
                      toward others.

Add to these conclusions the fact that there have been several wrestling related deaths over the past few years , with the victims being children. These cases usually involve two children, one of which decides to act out moves on the other. Moves that they have seen performed on television. The most famous case is that of Lionel Tate and Tiffany Eunick, whose tragic incident occurred on July 28,1999. Though Tate was only 12 years old at the time his actions resulted in young Tiffany's death. She suffered a fractured skull, a lacerated liver and more than 30 other injuries from being punched, kicked, stomped and thrown around the house. During the trial it was argued that Lionel (170-pounds) did not mean to kill Tiffany (48-pounds), but thought he could act out moves performed by his wrestling heroes on TV and nobody would get hurt. Obvoiusly, Tate was wrong and was later convicted of first-degree murder.

Evaluation

Based on the evidence seen so far, it looks as if violence on TV is having a negative influence on young children. So should such programming, like the WWF, be removed from television? Well, it may be some peoples opinion that it should be removed, but I highly doubt it will. Television is all about the ratings, and with the WWF receiving such high rating, there is little chance of a cancelation. So what can be done? Obviously you can't control everything you children watch on television. Though by taking an active role in explaining to them what is actaully going on, you may be able to help prevent confusion and misinterpretation. Confusion which could lead to acccidental injuries or even death.