More WWF Smackdown victims

After the news was first broken about Reza, the first known death related to WWF Smackdown in Indonesia, reports started to pour in about similar incidents.

Kiki, a little boy living in Ciputat, Jakarta city, died on 17th November 2006 after treated for 3 days in Bakti Husada hospital. The exact age of the boy is not known, but he looked like a 4 years old. The body was buried in his parent’s village, Balung Pendowo, Central Java.

Kiki’s uncle, Wahyu (32), on Monday (27/11) said that before Kiki died, he complained about chest and arm pain to him. “He confessed to be having Smackdown-ed by his friends”, he said.

To date there have been 9 recorded incidents, involving deaths, severe head injuries, broken bones, etc.

Pipit reported from Bandung that WWF Smackdown continued to be aired, with the schedule put back 1 hour. There are still problems with the show; the disclaimer (“don’t try this at home”) is not visible. And its presented in a way that’s not clear, compared to the following glorification of violence.

A few details on the victims so far :

1. Reza Iksan Fadillah (9), died in Bandung
2. Ahmad Firdaus (8), year 4 student in Margacinta; suffered from broken bone, and inflammation of his vital organ.
3. Raja (8), year 3 student, Kiara Condong; broken feet, broken back bone.
4. Angga (7), year 2 student, Kiara Condong; head injury, broken arm bone.
5. Sabila (7), Margacinta; broken foot and arm bones.
6. Kiki, Ciputat; died on 17 Nov 2006 after hospitalized for 3 days.
7. Maryunani (9), year 3 student, Yogyakarta; hospitalized in Wates hospital.

References: [ 1 ] – [ 2 ]

26 thoughts on “More WWF Smackdown victims

  1. you know what, i usually felt guilty when i see my kids don’t play with the surrounding neighbour kids. but i have my reasons, a lot of those kids i’ve seen playing without any adult supervision, and who knows what they have watched on television and what they are capable of.

  2. 8. Raudila Nabila Akmal (6), kelas 1 SD, Bandung; engsel pinggul lepas, tulang paha kanan lepas dan menonjol keluar
    9. Fauzi Rizal (9), kelas 4 SD, Jakarta;tulang lengan kiri patah

  3. ryosaeba – you’re right, I don’t allow my kids to play without adult supervision either. At the very least, their “mbok” will be watching over them from a distance. They play outside quite often though, and we try not to be too obstrusive in our supervising them.
    .
    apung – thanks for helping to complete the missing records.

  4. but i still dont understand, why u guys blame the smackdown? smackdown is already exist from about 5 years ago.. kemana aja selama ini?

    Bukankah ini hanya menunggu momen yg tepat utk menyalahkan acara itu? Dulu (5 taun yg lalu), juga sering main smekdown, dan yg sakit.. yaa.. gak bs nyalahin smekdownnya..

    but anyway, this is just my opinion.. opinion from nobody.. 😉

  5. Mas Harry, mohon maaf kalo post ini malah jadi thread diskusi..
    Mas aRdho, masalahnya… sekarang TV menurut pengamatan saya, hanya mengejar sisi bisnisnya belaka.. Mereka tidak lagi mngedepankan nilai-nilai moral, atau minimal menerapkan CSR Program pada setiap tayangannya..

    Okelah.. kita jangan cuma menyalahkan TV, tapi orang tua yang kurang pengawasan.. Well, cuma masalahnya berapa banyak orang tua yang sadar dan mengerti? Berapa banyak orang tua yang (maaf) well-educated di negara ini??

    Terakhir, 5 years ago… I think Smack Down ditayangkan waktu-waktu tengah malem deh.. Terus kalo sekarang jam 8 udah dtayangin.. Gilanya lagi waktu bulan puasa ditayangin abis sahur..

    but anyway, this is just my opinion too.. opinion from me 😉

  6. I’m a fan of WWE since 10 or so. I realize some of the act were violent. The problem is you should realize that the show is “Sport Entertainment”. Can you read “Sport” + “entertainment”? It means the actors really exercise and practice the moves. Does why kids should have been told by parents that if they wanted to do the moves they have to do it the right way. How? Join a wrestling sport club or something, practice on matrass, train with a trainer. It would be stupid imitating the moves in school where you will get hurt hitting the floor and might get injured since you don’t know the techniques. That’s why during the commercial break the show always tell the audience “Don’t try this at home!!”

    Then there is the “Entertainment” meaning the whole show just an act -> soap opera mix with wrestling. The actors get paid for hitting each other and doing all of those things which they did. Now, in reality do you get paid for hitting your friend at school? No, instead you get scold by parents and teachers. The superstar gets fame and fortune for their acts and you in the real world only get hurt. They get to go around the world for fighting on Tv while you get to go on a one way trip to jail. See the differences here? I wonder why parents can’t realize this and tell their kids? I even have a 14 years old cousin who watched WWE with me on tv, vcd, and dvd. I told him everything and he understood well. What’s the point getting into fight with your friend just to imitate a movie? It’s better just to play video game or watch movie with friends.

    Next, come the biggest issue. It is not just WWE show, but look at the other teen soap opera. Some shows have content or story which are not appropriate. Junior high school driving to school??? you have an age limititation to get driver license and last time I checked you gotta be 17 or 18. Oh, SMP/SMU girls now wearing mini skirt to school? That is a nice view for the boys but I believe in reality no school permit that. Also, teenager on tv this day shows they live in big house, make big party, go clubbing, etc. In reality, look at Indonesia’s economic condition. Can parents really let their children spend that amount of money?? What about smackdown game on playstation? WE have wrestling games since the year 2000. And just “NOW” parents realize they are dangerous?? Well yeah, since it was a coincident the tv show got banned. Only wrestling games? What about counter strike? Back when I’m in campus I saw some elementary school student playing conter strike at an internet rental. They were good and they knew all of the weapons. They can “kill” their opponent with weapons. Do society complaint? It’s just a game what parent said. Still, in the game they are trained to shoot and kill! And if watching WWE they memorize the superstar’s name and their moves, then playing something like counter strike make them memorize weapons like: ak47, bayonet, shotgun, etc. Wouldn’t you be surprised if you met a 10 year old kid who would have the knowledge about guns? So, you can say until something bad happen then people will never realize or take any action.

    Parent control vs Tv station! Parent complaint mostly to the tv station. By putting the show much much more late at night doesnt make kids stop watching. Instead they sleep much late. Who’s fault is that? Can’t parent control kids this day? Beside that, how can you tell children not to watch if parents put TV inside the children’s bedroom? They might as well fake their sleep and wait until midnight to watch the show. Now, I’m not saying it’s all parent’s fault. Lativi gotta be blamed for putting the show and especially the re-run : Back in Action show everyday. I was happy seeing Raw on tuesday, ECW on Wednesday, and Smackdown on thursday. But, now you got back in action? The show keep repeating itself every hours till midnight and sometimes over. What is the point here? The way I see it this will cause “brainwashing”. For those who have limited uderstanding will be happy to see the show every hours. But they will be brainwashed by the show! IMO this is where LATIVI did wrong. They should have sticked with the regular show instead the re-runs. Now children can freely watch the show over and over and the show got into their mind with the shocking result of them hurting their friends.

    This is a long comment but it is just my opinion. Hope it would be useful.

  7. Hi garde, I think WWF is more about entertainment rather than sport. As complained by my father, “Nggak ada yang bonyok kok” after I explained to him that it’s all fake (he was an avid boxing fan).
    .
    But when the entertainment has started to cause various problems for the victims, then we’ll need to prioritize – entertainment, or safety / people’s life ?
    .
    Nowadays, pretty much all TV shows are problematic in one way or another. Gone are quality shows that taught us about life, while entertaining in the same time. Now they’re all about mindless fun.
    .
    We need to understand though that it’s their nature, When TV stations had to choose between becoming a source of enlightenment for the people and source of income; being in a a business to make money, of course they’ll choose the later.
    So while the government is sorting out this mess, we’ll need to do something as well.
    .
    When I moved to my new house, I decided not to buy a TV. The kids are having a blast every day, instead of sitting still for hours in front of the TV.
    Parents ARE responsible to their kids, and are to blame too in most of these cases. They don’t have to throw away the TV, but they need to make sure that the kids will get nothing bad from it.

  8. I am not sure, weather we should allow kids to watch those shows or not but I personally don’t like such shows because they are just crap. I wondered how people manage their valuable time. On the other hand kids are more prone to all this. My son always watch T.V for Super/Spider man and he has several minor injuries.

  9. These sort of heroes are leaving a bad Impression on our children. Even my lil son also get injures trying to be like them. But we cant sue them as personal injury claim.

  10. There’s a phenomena among today’s youth where the popular thing to do is engage in ‘backyard wrestling’. WWF is the most visible influence, but there are others. Numerous home videos wind up on the Internet where not-so-smart kids are taking chairs to each others backs etc. Its getting more brutal than anything you see on regular TV. It’s time we were all more mindful of this.

  11. This is so sad. I like watching WWE Smackdown occassionally, but look at what our “gladiator” mentality has brought…more death. I feel for the families involved. I have my own personal TV Show and Entertainment blog and I will probably look more into this as a result of your post. Thank you.

  12. I really can’t understand why rough “wrestling” such as WWF is being considered a sports. A game is supposedly played to enjoy and have fun. Not to be hurt and be killed. And after WWF, here comes UFC. Whenever I glance upon that as I change tv channel, there is blood, broken arm… I will never let my kids see those kind of stuff on television.

  13. Wow, that is really sad and shocking. You would think their would be some public outrage in Indonesia over this. My son has watched the WWF Smackdown show before and thought it was funny, but fortunately he doesn’t mimic the wrestling acts. The kids think it is cool and then they end up getting hurt trying wrestling acts they see on Tv. We all should be more mindful of these types of shows.

  14. I feel sorry to hear the news, wrestling tv show like that should not be televised. Our beloved children haven’t known yet about the good and the bad. It’s our duty to be always accompanying them when they are watching television.

  15. I feel for the families involved. I have my own personal TV Show and Entertainment blog and I will probably look more into this as a result of your post. Thank you.

  16. Tv should not be used to baby sit your children, parents need to be responsible for what their kids see,and do. Its unfortunate at this time in society that often times this is more than the norm. Kids should have guidence, and not be allowed to watch what ever or even allowed to run with bayonets, or guns like in some 3rd world countries, even there parents should be responsible.

  17. I agree with Rare Bayonets, shows like WWF Smackdown is not for children. There are many other impressions can be enjoyed by children. The task the parents to choose a spectacle that can be consumed by them.

  18. Child violence is horrible. And, honesty I don’t really know which is worse – when child dies or survives but with such serious disabilities that will never let him or her enjoy life again….

  19. I just came across your blog and reading your beautiful words. I thought I would leave my first comment but I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
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  21. smackdown is already exist from about 5 years ago.. kemana aja selama ini?why u guys blame the smackdown? Bukankah ini hanya menunggu momen yg tepat utk menyalahkan acara itu? Dulu (5 taun yg lalu), juga sering main smekdown, dan yg sakit.. yaa.. gak bs nyalahin smekdownnya..but anyway, this is just my opinion..

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