These kids do anything from jumping off the roof onto a friend, to breaking light bulbs on each other's heads. Believe it or not, this "backyard" sport has been gaining popularity with young teenagers. Statistics do show that there are hundreds of official backyard wrestling federations (Fonda). There have been several videos that were sent to news channels where the footage would show kids dressed up as their favorite wrestler, throwing their friend on a bunch of thumb tacks, or setting each other on fire (Fonda). .
The increase in violent behavior by school-aged children and its relationship to the recent surge in popularity of professional wrestling has led people to blame the wrestling industry, in particular the WWF, for this violence. In the late 1990s, professional wrestling has enjoyed storybook success largely by making the content more controversial. "It's a high-flying, testosterone-fueled, one-ring circus of scripted violence. This is the new world of professional wrestling" (ABC 20/20). Wrestling is targeted at adults, primarily males aged 17-34, but 15% of the viewers (1 million) are aged 11 or younger (Rosellini). Many adults and parents do not think that children can effectively tell the difference between scripted violence and the real thing. Some parents contend that there is no place for wrestling on television and several organizations have taken action to get companies like Coca Cola and AT&T to stop advertising during wrestling shows. By not having these companies sponsor these wrestling events, especially during prime time, younger children will not be influenced by these programs (Rosellini).
Many psychologists who study the effects of violence on television believe that wrestlers cannot possibly be good role models (Kantrowitz). The psychologists feel that kids less than eight years old are too immature to tell the different between fantasy and reality so therefore should be kept away from the show (Kantrowitz).
