PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING

PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING
In recent years, the entertainment industry saw the booming and revitalization of professional wrestling. Professional wrestling continuously tops the charts among cable programming. Vince McMahon, the chairman and owner of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), reports that 15% of his audience are 11 years old and under. Another 15% are between 12 and 17 years old. Adults from 18 years and older comprise the other 70% of the total viewers. McMahon notes his television shows are rated TV14 (McMahon). However, what happens to the 15%, or one million viewers of his audience who are 11 years old and under?

Today's version of professional wrestling, WWE in particular, is more violent, sexual, and vulgar than ever before. Many pediatricians and parents argue that wrestling is teaching children at a young age everything that is bad in society.

In the early 1990s, professional wrestling started airing in Israel. Due to this, violent behaviors increased among third through sixth graders. When airtime was decreased, violence also decreased (Rossellini). Howard Spivak, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics' task force on violence believes "kids don't always differentiate fantasy from reality" (Rossellini).