News Chairs and Violence: Is WWE’s PG Rating Justified?

Table of contents:

    WWE has been a great source of entertainment for people around the world, especially Americans, for decades. Though its format has changed considerably, the main idea has stayed the same; male and female wrestlers, each with their own defined characters, fight in an arena. Everything is fake, but the violence is as realistic as it can possibly be. But does that excuse the fact that many children are exposed to WWE’s violence both in live events and on TV?

     

    How are Children Affected by Watching Violent Content?

    According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, watching TV with violent content can have negative effects on children. Children are particularly impressionable and try to replicate what they see without understanding if it’s morally right or wrong.

    While adults can watch a violent TV show or live event, understanding that it’s not real, (though they might suffer negative effects as well), children won’t completely grasp the notion of theatricality. A bunch of adults slamming each other with chairs can easily be mistaken as being real. In fact, many adults today remember a time when they actually thought WWE was real and there’s no doubt that many children who watched WrestleMania 39 last night thought it was real as well.

     

    WWE Age Rating

    WWE’s age rating has changed over the years. Since 2008, WWE tried to take a more family-friendly approach, changing its rating from TV-14 to TV-PG in the process. This was a great business decision since it opened up its target audience and encouraged more sponsors to promote the show. In the PG Era, the violence and sexual content were watered down and the characters were much more one-dimensional since the fan base was made up of a lot of younger people.

    Right now, there’s talk of the age rating changing to TV-14 once again. WWE has tried to change the format of its content multiple times, even going so far as naming different “eras” of WWE. But even watered-down violence in WWE is still violence. It’s not as if the violence is the same as Lego characters in a video game; it still constitutes hitting another person with a chair.

     

    wrestlers in a ring

     

    Should Parents Let Their Children Watch WWE?

    An article in the Sport Journal researched the effects of watching pro-wrestling on children and the results question the appropriateness of the practice. All signs point to the fact that children should not be watching WWE events, in-person or on a TV.

    According to the National Center for Health Research, there are plenty of studies suggesting that watching violent content can play a part in children’s aggressive behavior. There are even studies that link watching pro wrestling to dating aggression. In the study, kids who reported watching pro wrestling in the past two weeks were more prone to:

    • Fighting at school
    • Starting a physical fight or being victimized by a date
    • Using Ritalin without a prescription
    • Smoking cigarettes
    • Having sex without using birth control

    These were just some of the things found to have a correlation with the frequency of watching WWE. So, how old should someone be to be able to watch WWE? If they change the age rating to PG-14, would that do?

    First of all, there’s been talk of changing the age rating to PG-14 for years, so we shouldn’t base things off that. Secondly, the issue of the TV-PG rating has to come into question. Many parents would never let their eight-year-old child watch someone hit another person and then proudly walk around and be cheered.

    Morals aside, research shows the negative effects of this type of behavior. So, why do some parents still believe that it’s ok for their kids to watch violence in the context of WWE? That’s a question every WWE-loving parent should ask themself.

     

    Conclusion

    It doesn’t seem like the violence inherent in WWE is going anywhere anytime soon. The audience wants more violence and if the age rating goes any higher WWE will deliver to their fans. It’s the responsibility of parents to keep an eye on the programs that their children watch and the live events that they take them to.

    Reza Ardani

    Reza Ardani

    At auctor lacus fusce enim id tempor etiam amet. Et consequat amet eu nulla nunc est massa dui consequat. Facilisi adipiscing nec condimentum sit laoreet non turpis aenean in. Aliquam cursus elementum mollis sed accumsan nisl ullamcorper in.

    Want to know more about digital parenting?

    Our newsletter is your go-to source for staying updated with the latest information on parenting and online child safety. Subscribe to our once a week must have tips, to simplify parenting in the digital age. Read the editor’s top pick of the week to ensure a safe online experience for your child.

    More from Our Blog

    Are you worried about your child’s online activities? Web filtering comes to the rescue! Here, you’ll learn how to access and block web content for your kid.
    Rana Mazahernasab

    Rana Mazahernasab

    Dealing with Smoking in Children: Effective Punishment Strategies
    Smoking is becoming popular among kids, let’s explore the causes of smoking in children & discuss possible solutions to how to punish your kid for smoking.
    Sina

    Sina

    kids getting cyberbullied
    Are you worried about the consequences of cyberbullying because of your kid’s online behavior? We’re here to help with some tips! 
    Atena

    Atena

    Duolingo for Kids
    In this blog, we’ll explore “Duolingo for kids” and why parents might be interested in using it as a tool for their children’s language learning journey. 
    Sina

    Sina

    Get Weekly Parenting Must-Knows in Your Inbox

    Deepen your parenting knowledge with our tips and tricks. Receive our editor’s top picks in your inbox once a week—no spam guaranteed.

    Download Safes Kids for Chrombook

    1. Install the Safes Kids app on your Chromebook from Google Play. 
    2. Pair Safes Kids with parent app. Follow the instructions in the app to pair your child’s device with your parent device.  
    3. Add the Safe Kids Chrome extension. Open Chrome and go to the Chrome Web Store. 
    4. Navigate to the Manage extensions page. Click the three dots in the top right corner of Chrome and select “Extensions”>”Manage Extensions”>”Details”
    5. Turn on “Allow in incognito mode” This will allow the Safe Kids extension to work in incognito mode, which is important if your child uses incognito mode to try to bypass the parental controls.
    6. Select Safes extension and follow on-screen instruction

    Download Safes Kids for Android

    Download the Android Kid’s app directly to get the full features!

    Download Safes Kids App on Play Store

    Download Safes Kids App on Safes.so

    Safe Kids is available on the Google Play Store, but if you download it directly from our website, you will get access to Call and SMS monitoring feature, You can monitor the phone calls of your child’s device, as well as the contacts and messages they have sent and received, including those containing inappropriate content.