December 15, 2007

From the gladiators of ancient Rome and the bare knuckle fighters of the 19th century, to modern-day sports such as wrestling, boxing, and karate etc. the story of violent sports continues. In the early days of football tripping, kicking, and punching were commonplace; cricket used to be played without pads or gloves; and boxing bouts often ended in severe injury or even death. So it is argued that sport often came about as a replacement to combat. However, there are obvious reasons for the changes that have occurred over the years regarding rules and regulations for sportsmen and sports fans.

Yet the modified versions of direct combat still stays in today’s world in the form of sports like wrestling, boxing, karate and even rugby, ice hockey and violent video games. Though the recent research suggests that triggers to violence depend on the inherent genes of a particular person, there is little doubt that violent sports do affect children and their behaviour.

Biologists have long argued over how much of violent behaviour is inbuilt and how much is socially determined. Of course, the last thing anyone wants is a self-fulfilling prophecy for violence. But it is known that people who later turn to violence are often impulsive or hyperactive as children. They often have lower IQ scores, particularly verbal scores; and exhibit sluggish heart rate, sweat rate and brain wave activity that together are labelled ‘low arousal’. Perhaps there is an optimal arousal level, and those who are under-aroused seek out more excitement — illegal excitement, if there’s nothing else.

Such behaviour is mostly seen in those children who are most prone to adverse effects of violence and violent sports. This dangerously violent attitude inspired from sports like wrestling or violent video games may lead them to be tomorrow’s criminals. And then there have been cases where such children have injured their friends or even killed them.

The killings in a school of USA in recent past, give evidence of this fact. On April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School near Denver, two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a shooting rampage, killing 12 students and a teacher, as well as wounding 24 others, before committing suicide. Both Harris and Klebold were fans of video games such as Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. Harris often created levels for Doom that were widely distributed, and can still be found on the Internet as the Harris levels. On the fifth anniversary of Columbine, the FBI’s lead Columbine investigator and several psychiatrists, in a news article, argued that Harris was a clinical psychopath and Klebold was depressive. They believed the plan was masterminded by Harris, who they thought had a messianic-level superiority complex and hoped to illustrate his massive superiority to the world.

Apart from this example, there is also evidence to suggest that any child can be affected in a negative way by violent sports. WWE and WWE wrestlers have been sued, time and again, by parents of children who have been injured due to wrestling moves practised on them by other children. Majority of the attacking children were not impulsive or hyperactive or showed other symptoms. Yet they did acquire a negative effect with their exposure to a violent sport.

The violent sports provide children’s immature mind an outlet for their negative emotions and they try to practise in real life what they see in such sports. We asked other budding writers of newspaper magazines for their views on the subject. And they all agreed that violent sports do adversely affect the behaviour and psyche of children in various ways.

Mansoor, 16, and a student of O-level says: “My class mates were at one time really enthusiastic to try all the locks, fighting techniques etc. from the WWE Raw and Smack Down wrestling shows, video games etc. These sports fill children with such energy which if not channelised properly, can have dire repercussions for the kids and those around them.”

Iqra, a pre-medical student, also shares the same views: “When you participate in karate/boxing etc, you go through the full haul and experience all the discipline and the hard work. However, children usually see these things in movies, where these elements are used as entertainment stuff in the action scenes. WWE, too, is portrayed in a very dramatic manner and children come to see it as synonymous with cool and then they actually try to be “cool”. Violent video games also send the wrong messages to the fertile minds of children. True, the children don’t go out and start beating people on the street to death with a club after playing games like Grand Theft Auto, Manhunt, Hitman, Metal Gear Solid, etc. but children will hardly benefit from seeing so much blood and gore at a young age. Shooting off people’s heads, breaking their necks, and killing people for no reason at all is clearly not on the same level as hitting/kicking/casting a spell on an enemy and seeing them disappear when their life is depleted, as is in “everyone” rated games and RPGs etc.”

Similarly, Sehar shares the popular view: “The violence in the violent sports can manifest itself in two manners, both of which adversely affect a child’s psyche. Kids prone to the violence viewing either become non-social, aggressive and violent; or become afraid of being a victim and grow up as timid individuals.”

F.D Sheikh shares the same point. He compares children to flowers and says if flowers are exposed to conditions having an adverse effect on them then they lose their innocence and beauty. The same applies for children. Ruggedness of behaviour, disturbed attitude and agitated personality is the result of these violent and brutal games.

Awais, a medical student, differs slightly from others but does share the popular views. He says, “I believe that there are two sides of this issue. The influence of violent sports is not uniform but rather bivalent. There is a certain ‘aggressive energy’ present in children. Sports and video games do, in part, help many of these children to dissipate this aggressive energy through harmless channels, while deriving entertainment at the same time. In this aspect, the role is positive and constructive. But watching and participating in violent sports also sometimes leads to an enhancement and reinforcement of the aggressive instinct in many children, and hence results in an increase in violent behaviour and increased acceptance of aggression as being normal.”

Fatima Ali, a writing prodigy and ‘A’ level student sums up all things nicely:

“According to a study by psychologists A. Bandura and D. & S. Ross, children are more likely to commit undue acts of violence if they see an adult do so. And you know — it only makes sense. We can’t expose impressionable young minds to hours of gratuitous violence, make it seem socially acceptable, and expect them to come away unscathed. Imagine someone spending hours upon hours playing intensely violent video games, and you wonder: when do the lines of reality start to blur, and the game mentality merges with the player’s normal psyche?

After all, combat simulators are used to train soldiers. And adolescent hormones combined with a mind primed for violence... that’s a recipe for disaster.”

The trend of keeping firearms and other weapons is on a rise among teenagers and so is the trend of fights and gang wars with other teenagers. It is cool for teenagers to do such things; and they also consider it necessary for maintaining their so-called ‘superiority’ in their social circle, school, locality or even society at large. This inspiration clearly comes from violent sports and movies to the impressionable minds of children. Parents, teachers, elder siblings, social scientists and government all have a duty to protect children from all the harmful effects of violent sports.