Watching Wrestling Encourages Violence in Adolescents

Ivanhoe Newswire
Monday, August 7, 2006; 12:00 AM

By Caroline Penn, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Some call it the male soap opera. But wrestling is more than men in tights fighting each other in steel cages. A new study shows wrestling is associated with violent behavior in adolescents.

A recent study, published by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., shows the more an adolescent watched wrestling, the more they would engage in violence, like physically or verbally abusive treatment of a date -- called date violence.

Researchers asked a random sample of 2,238 North Carolina high school students how many times they had watched wrestling in the past two weeks. Among males, 24.6 percent had watched six or more times in the past two weeks. Among females, 9.1 percent had watched as heavily.

The researchers say adolescents who watch wrestling are exposed to a high frequency of violence between men and women, alcohol use, hearing women referred to as "bitch" or "ho," verbal abuse and physical abuse.

The researchers report wrestling had a stronger impact on females. The relationship between watching wrestling on television and being the perpetrator of date violence was stronger among females.

Lead author Robert H. DuRant, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics at Brenner Children's Hospital in Winston-Salem, told Ivanhoe, "By the time they hit adolescence, males have chosen to watch more violence than females do. The males are probably more desensitized to this than females because the females have a lesser history of watching violent media."

Dr. DuRant expressed his concern regarding the "high level of violence that is portrayed on TV without any of the expected consequences occurring." He said this happens too often. "During one wrestling match a man dangled a woman upside down and then dropped her on her head, supposedly knocking her unconscious. In reality, I know this act would have probably broken her neck and killed her," he said.

While Dr. DuRant admits wrestling doesn't cause violence, he does say violence on television can affect what is perceived as socially acceptable behavior. "If you don't like it, as a parent, call or write the FCC," said Dr. DuRant. "Talk to them or write to them. Let them know."

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview and Pediatrics, 2006;118:265-272