Backyard Wrestling: Not Just Fun and Games

One day last fall, I went outside to check on my three boys. I arrived just in time to see Nick, 9, giving his 11-year-old brother, John, a "piledriver" on the trampoline, while Brandon, 8, cheered. (The move consists of holding someone upside down and smashing his head on the ground.) As soon as I could feel my heart beating again, I marched the boys into the house for a cease-and-desist lecture.

My sons learned this move, I'm certain, from a Saturday morning pro wrestling show that I permit them to watch, and that most of their friends watch too. According to World Wrestling Entertainment, which produces most of the pro wrestling shows that are shown almost daily on various channels, nearly 15 percent of their viewers are ages 11 and under. That's about one million kids, a third of whom, the WWE estimates, are girls.

While many 7- to 10-year-olds are content to be spectators, a growing number are taking their interest to another level, imitating the body slams, choke holds, flips, and aerial throws of their favorite wrestling stars in what's known as backyard wrestling. Girls take part too, some spurred by the popularity of the female wrestler, Chyna, who challenges and often beats the male wrestlers.
The children fight on the ground, on trampolines, or in makeshift rings, and what they're doing isn't normal horseplay. In some cases, they hit each other with makeshift weapons such as folding chairs and light bulbs.

WHO'S PRETENDING?
While many older kids take part as well, 7- to 10-year-olds, in particular, have trouble recognizing that the wrestling moves they're imitating are stunts made to look as realistic and dramatically painful as possible. "Since wrestling involves real people, as opposed to animated characters in cartoons, kids often don't understand that it's pretend," says Diane Levin, Ph.D., professor of education at Wheelock College in Boston, and author of Remote Control Childhood: Combating the Hazards of Media Culture (National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998). "Third and fourth grade is when this confusion becomes a big problem."

Even 7- to 10-year-olds who realize that the fights are choreographed, are unlikely to have the physical and emotional control to temper their own moves. This increases the risk to their opponents and themselves. Children also don't understand their own physical limitations, says Ann Ritter, M.D., a pediatric neurosurgeon at the University of North Carolina Medical Center in Chapel Hill, and their lack of size and strength may contribute to their injuries. "They think they can do all of the moves," she says.

REAL RISKS
Nicholas Messana, for instance, never realized the risk he was taking in 1999, when at age 10, he practiced a dangerous move called the Stone Cold Stunner, in which the victim's head is caught under an arm and smashed on a knee. Nick broke his neck. "He could have been killed or paralyzed," says his mother Moira of Pinehurst, North Carolina. Instead, Nick missed most of fourth grade, required two surgeries, and endured months in a head device. His range of motion is still impaired.

"The reality is that the moves are dangerous," says Howard Spivak, M.D., a professor of pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine in Brookline, Massachusetts, and chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics taskforce on violence. Injuries range from head and neck trauma to bowel perforation. And, Dr. Spivak stresses, "Wrestling activity has been associated with the deaths of four children." In one case, a 7-year-old boy from Dallas, Texas, killed his 3-year-old brother when he punched him in the neck, copying a move of his wrestling heroes.

Physical dangers aren't the only problem. Exposure to violence acts like an addictive drug in the brain, Dr. Spivak says. Over time, to get the same biological and emotional response, a person needs more intense exposure. This may make kids more callous, he suggests. Backyard wrestling also teaches questionable values including that hurting someone is entertaining.

What should parents do? Dr. Spivak and other experts suggest the following:
* Know what your child is watching. Some wrestling shows hype more violence and sleaze than others, but all are rated at least PG-13. The WWE parents website outlines the ratings as they pertain to the wrestling shows. If you permit your children to view the shows, watch with them and challenge the reality they present.
* Discuss the dangers of imitating on-screen violence. Point out to your children that they're not wimpy for refusing to backyard wrestle and that taking part is stupid, not cool.
* Discourage the glorification of pro wrestlers. Expose your child to more acceptable role models and heroes. If your child aspires to be a pro wrestler, Gary Davis, a spokesperson for the WWE, suggests that the best preparation is not backyard wrestling, but organized sports and theater training.
* Ban backyard wrestling. Even many of the WWE performers forbid their own children to backyard wrestle, Davis points out. He suggests young fans take a tip from pro wrestler Mick Foley, whose motto is "Don't try this at home."