BellaOnline Forums Sports Wrestling wWWE has Rock and Roll, sex and now drugs...

I have long said that I am more worried about kids mimicking wrestling holds or violence than I am seeing sexual situations. With my kids, I was more worried they would break their necks trying to wrestle than I was if they saw a girl in her panties.

You make a good point and I agree that violence, perceived or real, is more harmful to kids in many ways than sex appeal and sexual suggestion.

I still wasn't thrilled when my kids were little and something overtly sexual happened in wrestling (which was much rarer than it is now) but that was my job as a parent to decide if it was suitable for them to see.

The only problem I have is that WWE lures kids in with foam fingers, masks, toys, and all sorts of things then presents very adult material. They really should decide what demographic they are going after than go after them.

An adult oriented (I am talking 16 and up not 21) night show with a weekend morning one hour recap show without the highly sexually oriented content may help WWE to cover all the bases. Still the violence will be there - chair shots, blood, etc.

Parents have to explain what pro wrestling is. Frankly, I don't know why anyone lets their 6 or 7 year old kids watch WWE at all but that is just me, I guess.

Still, some warning that an off the charts sexual simulation is going to happen would help parents to decide whether to turn the station or not at that point. I am just glad I don't have to worry about any of that right now. My kids are old enough to not like wrestling on their own and if they did, nothing would shock them.

If I had a 6 year old, I would probably not let them watch WWE but would let them watch TNA and explain like I did to my kids at the time, what pro wrestling was all about.

What do you all think? Is it the sexual references or the violence that bothers you more when it comes to kids watching wrestling?

It is the sexual stuff that bothers me more with the kids. Sure, the violence is one thing but you can explain that away by telling kids that they are not really mad at each other and that they constantly practice this stuff and some people get hurt by accident and that is why you (the kids) shouldn't practice this stuff.

The sexual overtones are different. We are living in a society that preaches abstinence and STD's and that they should wait until they are married for that kind of thing. Then when they see the people that could be considered role models doing it or simulating it rather, its a little more hard to explain away.

Discussing sex with children is hard enough for some people and then having to explain it during a wrestling show is that much more difficult.

I mean how do you explain the live sex show with Edge and Lita? Or Vince McMahon making out with a woman who is not his wife? How do you explain the vignette between Melina and Batista?

Heck, I get embarrassed when that stuff happens. Even now when they have bra and panty matches on tv, I turn it to another channel. There is no room in wrestling for the soft core porn stuff that goes on.

Everyone has their own opinions about the subject and this is mine. I would much rather choose the violence over the sex. Violence and wrestling go hand in hand. Sex and wrestling do not.

I would rather let my kids watch Power Rangers or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles than Sex in the City or Cinemax After Dark.

Then again, I won't let my kids watch wrestling until they are old enough to differentiate between what is real and what is simulated anyway. Probably not until they are 30 or so. lol.

The sexual overtones in wrestling are ridiculous and one day someone is going to get burned by it. Vince almost did with the groping accusation.

Well, that's my opinion. Take it for what its worth.

Good points all.

I think the sexual overtones make a lot of people uncomfortable, not only because of kids watching. I feel a little put off with some of the lame groping especially when it is Vince and a young woman. Ergh.

I think on the whole WWE is just not for young kids. I see kids as young as 3 or 4 in the audience. I remember taking my younger son to a WWE show when he was...6 ish maybe(?) and he hid under the chair when Undertaker's music started. he was scared to death. This was my now 15 year old. My older one loved all the surreal stuff when he was little. I guess each kid is very different as well.

Still, I feel embarrassed for the parents in the crowd who are sitting with their 8 year old kids when something really tasteless or sexual happens. I hope they are explaining the simulated violence and not allowing them to try the moves at home. But really what do you say about sexual things? "It's not real, her nipple didn't just slip out of her shirt." or "See. Vince is married and just pretending to be touching and kissing Candice because uhh...uhh..." or "Mickie didn't really push her face against Trish's crotch and lick her fingers...that was all just fake."

Comes off as sort of hollow, eh?

When kids understand & recognize the value of LOVE coming first before sex, they will know to question all other forms of sexual expression & recognizing it as something that really isn't the right thing to do.

This is how I probably would explain your examples

"It's not real, her nipple didn't just slip out of her shirt."

It's just a nipple. All women have them & it's nothing to be embarrased about or made a big deal out of. Did that make you feel uncomfortable? Why?

"See. Vince is married and just pretending to be touching and kissing Candice because uhh...uhh..."

Vince is doing something he shouldn't be doing because he's playing a character that supposed to be evil or a really bad guy. He wants his "bad guy" character to be more believable by doing bad things that people shouldn't do in real life.

"Mickie didn't really push her face against Trish's crotch and lick her fingers...that was all just fake."

I remember this happening & specifically don't remember Micki James licking her fingers. Though I agree this is a tough one even for me. I think that since this happened so quickly, most kids wouldn't of even noticed, but I could be wrong.

All in all this is why first & foremost, we need to recognize that this show is on at 9pm on a school/work night for a reason. Parents that let there young childern stay up consistently past this hour &/or allow TV's in the bedrooms are doing them a disservice to begin with in my opinion.

Talking about sex & issues pertaining to sex doesn't just stop with that 1 talk about the birds & the bees. It should be at the forefront of discussion throughout there years of growing up especially during their teen years.
Otherwise, when it's time for them to leave the house they are not going to know how to deal with these things as it looks them straight in the face so to speak.

Obviously you have to talk to kids about sex. And they see it everywhere. It is inevitable and, in my house, it's not a big deal for me to walk around in something scant (covered of course but not enough to go outside that way). I am probably one of the most liberal people when it comes to discussing sexual things with my kids. To the point where they tell ME to shut up.

But still, SD airs at 8 p.m. The shows come to town on weekends. Sometimes they are in the afternoon.

It's really a tough call for parents. I don't know if you are one but when you are, it is just a maze of confusion with kids. How much they should know, how they should know, WHAT they should know...

WWE likes to push the envelope with sexual things all the while pushing the Boogeyman and Undertaker - and until recently - Hurricane who kids take to and who appeal to them in one way or the other.

It is like WWE, as I said, wants it all. They want to sell their masks and their toys and their fake chains but they also want to shock and titillate the adults.

I suppose it all comes down to what a parent is willing to allow their kids to see.

As far as a nipple slip, yeah, if my kid was 8 I would be embarrassed. Once, my kid was around 11 and we were at a show and there was a lot of skin shown and, in fact, HHH convinced a girl to lift her top and expose her breasts, which she did, and it was displayed on a large screen. My son was completely embarrassed. Not because of it, I suppose, but because here he is sitting with his MOTHER and some woman is shaking her naked boobs on a big screen. I just looked at him and said...."I hope you don't date girls like that."

What could I say? We went to see wrestling, we got boobies.

As I said I am just glad my kids are older now and find WWE completely silly. They will watch TNA when the X Division is on but that is about it.

So, I got through it, they got through it, and all is well. I now allow other parents to deal with their kids when something happens that they need to explain.

I don't believe wrestling will poison the minds of kids even if they watch it unmonitored. I do think the real young ones should probably either watch something else or have a parent tape it and fast forward through things that the parent feels are not appropriate for kids at the age they are to see.

I have something to add to what Force said as well. You can explain it all away you want to but the fact is it is shown where it shouldn't be and the WWE should have some kind of parental disclaimer before there shows come on.

If I explained it to my kids the way you suggested, then it wont fly if my son goes to school and does something to a girl like Vince did. Then if he tried to explain the reason for him doing it is because he saw someone on tv doing it and I had told him the man was playing a bad guy, then my son would probably think its all right for him to do it too because he was just playing and he was playing a bad guy as well.

Abstinence from watching wrestling is still the best choice for them until they are older.