Listen up! Class is in session.

I was watching “RAW” with my son, Professor Jr., Monday night. When the WWE Diva contest came on the air - the one where they’re going to pay someone $250,000 to shake it for Vince - I had to switch the channel. For some reason, I didn’t want him exposed to that type of jiggility just now. He’s only 8, for heaven’s sake. So I guess you could say I did the right thing (it’s called parenting) by making sure he didn’t see any content I thought was questionable, but at the same time - I let him watch the rest of the show, with Edge and Randy Orton putting on a solid main event.

So in my house: treating women as sex objects is not OK, but watching TV cartoon violence is. The good thing about it is that I didn’t turn to the government for help: I figured it out myself. Heck, of course I figured it out-I’m the Professor, after all.

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All this brings me to the larger, not-so-new-but-still-valid discussion: is TV wrestling bad for society? We got tons of mail on the subject in past weeks, which was inspired by this letter from Chris:

I consider myself a relatively liberal person, but I have to say that in my opinion, professional wrestling as a form of entertainment is just plain bad for our society. what message do we send by idolizing characters that display violent and sadistic behavior for the masses. I understand that it is not "real", but just the same, it de-sensetizes our culture to violence, which begets more violence.

I just don't see enough entertainment value to offset the negative impacts. I think it's sad that there are parents who let and even encourage their children to watch this stuff.

Thanks, Chris

To be honest, the letter wasn’t received all that well by my students. I guess that’s no surprise considering the audience at which this column is aimed. With that in mind, let’s take a gander at some of your e-mails. We open with a tour-de-force from Josh Taylor:

This subject has always been a hot topic with me. If you think something is bad for your children, DON'T LET THEM DO IT. This includes watching wrestling, talk shows, cable, movies, eating fast food, fatty foods, or smoking a carton of cigarettes and getting a tattoo while mainlining whiskey at the firing range. Television is not a babysitter, and the new ones have V-chips so parents who choose to use it as one can moderately control what the kids watch. However, I am an adult, and I know that if I stomp on someone's throat and then throw them from the top of a steel cage, it will hurt them and I will go to jail.

Please allow me to partake in the activities that I choose, providing that I am hurting no one but myself, without looking down your nose at me and clicking your tongue disapprovingly. I don't tell you that the whitewashed, politically correct, tofu-flavored self-help book you're reading renders you incapable of thinking for yourself or being open minded to the fact that people have different tastes in activities, so leave me alone. God Bless America.

Josh Taylor

Well said, Josh. Let’s go to Daniel from Louisville:

Professor,

I think that Pro Wrestling is neither good or bad for society. That's like asking if baseball or football is good or bad for society. I think it's all in the way it's portrayed at home when you are young. I grew up watching wrestling. (Oh, how I long for the days of the blue steel bar cage like the one in “WrestleMania II").

My father introduced me to it when I was about six. I was hooked from the get-go. Like all kids, I wanted to believe it was real, kinda like Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy, but any person with a little common sense could see that the kind of things that they were doing were staged. Children have to be taught that it's a SHOW. If a parent introduces anything to a child they should explain how it works. It's like anything else in life. I think it all begins in the home.

Daniel, Louisville

I agree, Daniel, the best way to go is to tell your kids it's scripted tumbling right from the beginning. That’s what I’ve always done. And to tell you the truth, I think they get more enjoyment about learning about how it works … and how real injuries occur in the process … than the actual matches themselves.

Let’s hear from Dan Johnson:

Is pro wrestling bad for society? NO! I explain that I see it as a soap opera for men. I do realize that there is a female fan base but the audience is predominantly male. I also don’t think it rots the mind the way the afternoon soap operas do. It is vastly misunderstood by most who are not fans. Watch to understand. If you choose not to, shut up about it.
Dan Johnson

The best point Dan makes is the soap opera angle. How much utter trash have soap operas given America the past 50 years? Lots. But they’re celebrated with “Daytime Emmy Awards.” And to be perfectly honest, I’d rather have my kids watch “Smackdown!” than 90 percent of the terrible sitcoms on the air. Funny, isn’t it … sitcoms come and go, but the squared circle has been around forever?

Dear Professor,
I have two sons who are 19 years apart. My oldest is soon to be 23 years old and my youngest turned 3 back in May. I had no problem with my oldest watching wrestling when he was younger and as he continued to grow. On the same hand, On Monday night and Thursday night my husband, 3-year-old son and I sit down and watch wrestling without question. We also do not miss a PPV. Half the time my youngest son falls asleep. Am I worried that watching wrestling is going to effect his behavior? No! Because I am there watching it with him. The same as I did with his older brother. Watching pro wrestling did not affect him at all, except at one time when he was in his teens he started working out and watching what he ate because he wanted to become a pro wrestler. I'd say that's a positive thing.

There is much more violence on the news, in cartoons which are suppose to be approved for children, and in other places that, if one would look, they would see all forms of violence.

Personally, I like the "Live and Let Live" motto. I don't tell you or 'Chris' what to do or how to raise your children and I'd appreciate it if 'Chris' and others like Chris would do the same thing.

Take Care, Ginger

Thanks Ginger. One more, to wrap things up:

Wrestling is not bad for society. People who tell other people what to watch are bad for society!!

Scott Dunn

I couldn’t agree more. Again, thanks for all your e-mails on this issue. Sorry I couldn’t print them all, but I really appreciate the response.

NEXT WEEK: We’ll be announcing the winner of our “SummerSlam” contest, where one of you will take over this column, predicting what will happen on that August 15 pay-per-view!

That’s it, the bell has rung … class dismissed!

(Professor Wrestling is a masked employee of Internet Broadcasting Systems. He urges you to run, not walk, to buy Ric Flair’s new autobiography.)