Home Schooling and Pro Wrestling
Home schooled children often face the same kinds of challenges as their public school counterparts, particularly in the form of deciding what is real and what is fictitious. One example of this is the increasing popularity of professional wrestling on television. A few statistics show the widespread exposure of home schoolers and others to professional wrestling on television, including the fact that professional wrestling on television is the #1 primetime programming for boys aged 12 to 17. It has gained in popularity over the last two decades to the point where a prominent cable company will be coming out with a new 24 hour a day, 7 day a week professional wrestling channel. However, its popularity does not necessarily lend pro wrestling credibility and the important question to home schooled children and parents is the level of influence that professional wrestling has on home school curriculums.
The answer is that the marketing efforts of professional wrestling groups have made it difficult for parents to police what children do with the information gained on professional wrestling programs like WWE Raw. Home schooled children who walk through the isles of toy stories will see action figures and toys that not only are aimed towards their age group, but also exhibit messages of sexism, violence, and disrespect for others. However, parents are often pressured by their home schooled children into purchasing items in order to fit in with friends. This is not aided by the fact that many parents, particularly fathers, watch wrestling with their sons, which may reinforce the acceptability of wrestling in the minds of home schooled children.
As well, home school children who are not allowed to watch wrestling at home may be able to see wrestling matches at a friend’s house. While this may seem innocuous to those who don’t home school their children, it is disturbing because children learn wrestling moves and catch phrases quickly. This rapid absorption of details on pro wrestling leads to an undermining of efforts to teach children morals and values in a home school atmosphere.
Nonetheless, wrestling can provide an interesting curriculum piece for home school programs because it offers an example of the difference between reality and fiction that is tangible and interesting to home schooled children. Home school parents can teach their kids that wrestling moves by their favorite wrestlers, like Stinger and the Undertaker, are carefully choreographed moves similar to dancing or acting. As well, they can explain to their home schooled children that companies like Nintendo and Snickers use these wrestlers to sell their products, which can deflate some of the integrity home school children feel that pro wrestling has.
The most important aspect of home school curriculums in dealing with pro wrestling’s influence may be, in fact, outside of the class room. The greatest impact on children is the time they spend with parents and when home is combined with school, in the situation of home schooled children, the differences between parent and teacher are negligible. In this case, it is important for parents to lay a firm hand down against purchasing items endorsed by pro wrestlers, which is an effective way for marketers to reach home schooled children. Most importantly, however, is to discourage interest in pro wrestling by not watching it in the home and talking with other parents about stopping their children from watching wrestling on television. Home school curriculums can be constructed any number of ways to deal with negative social influences on children, but the strongest tool for parents in educating their children is talking to them directly and frankly.
