noelyf
VIP Member
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Child welfare groups and politicians in Britain have expressed outrage after a video emerged of two eight-year-old boys fighting in a cage as hundreds of adults watched.
Video showed boys grappling in a cage in Preston
Child welfare groups and politicians in Britain have expressed outrage after a video emerged of two eight-year-old boys fighting in a cage as hundreds of adults watched.
The video, shot at Greenlands Labour Club in Preston, northwest England, earlier this month shows the two boys grappling without protective padding or head gear as a 250-strong adult audience watches.
Children's charity NSPCC said the video was "disturbing", but Lancashire police said it had "looked into this matter fully and there are no issues for us to pursue".
Nick Hartley, the father of one of the boys in the video, insisted his son was at no risk.
"He loves the sport. It's not one bit dangerous, it's a controlled sport. He likes to do it, he's never forced to do it, he wants to do it, so leave him to do it," Mr Hartley told the BBC.
"He'll never get hurt, it's a controlled sport. He could never get hurt.
"Until he gets a bit older and he starts doing physical contact, kicking and punching, then maybe, but at his age it's wrestling, like grappling."
He denied the children were cage fighting - an often violent sport whose popularity has spread rapidly in recent years through widespread exposure on satellite television.
"The children weren't doing cage fighting, they were doing what they call grappling. The cage fighting only comes when they're older," he said in a separate interview with Sky News.
A Lancashire Police spokesman said it had looked into whether any crime had been committed but would take no further action. The club's licence was in order to stage such events.
Chris Cloke, head of child protection awareness at children's charity NSPCC, said: "We would strongly discourage parents from letting their children take part in this kind of fighting.
"It's quite disturbing that some of those involved in the bouts were as young as eight, an age when they are still developing, physically and mentally.
"The organisers of these activities should think very carefully before allowing children to be involved when they are egged on to inflict violence."
Culture minister Jeremy Hunt condemned the video as "barbaric".
"Getting more young people doing sport is great but I do ask myself whether it really does have to be in a cage," Mr Hunt told the BBC.
"It just feels to me, it feels very barbaric and I know there are concerns about children that young doing a sport like that.
"I think if adults choose to do it, that's one thing ... I suppose I do share some of the shock that I think many of your viewers will feel."
A spokesman for Sharefight, the company commissioned to video the event, said the video had been online for two weeks without complaint but was taken down last night "out of respect" for parents and others who had shown concern.
He added that the event took place in a "safe environment" and under strict conditions.
He said: "What took place was safer than what happens in judo clubs and rugby training grounds up and down the country.
"People are reacting to the negative stereotype around cage fighting and the setting within a cage, but a cage makes it safer for the participant because it stops them falling from the ring.
"The event involving the children was submission wrestling. Contact between the participants was restricted at all times.
"I would liken it to a game of chess, it's about outsmarting your opponent rather than overcoming them."
Child welfare groups and politicians in Britain have expressed outrage after a video emerged of two eight-year-old boys fighting in a cage as hundreds of adults watched.
Video showed boys grappling in a cage in Preston
Child welfare groups and politicians in Britain have expressed outrage after a video emerged of two eight-year-old boys fighting in a cage as hundreds of adults watched.
The video, shot at Greenlands Labour Club in Preston, northwest England, earlier this month shows the two boys grappling without protective padding or head gear as a 250-strong adult audience watches.
Children's charity NSPCC said the video was "disturbing", but Lancashire police said it had "looked into this matter fully and there are no issues for us to pursue".
Nick Hartley, the father of one of the boys in the video, insisted his son was at no risk.
"He loves the sport. It's not one bit dangerous, it's a controlled sport. He likes to do it, he's never forced to do it, he wants to do it, so leave him to do it," Mr Hartley told the BBC.
"He'll never get hurt, it's a controlled sport. He could never get hurt.
"Until he gets a bit older and he starts doing physical contact, kicking and punching, then maybe, but at his age it's wrestling, like grappling."
He denied the children were cage fighting - an often violent sport whose popularity has spread rapidly in recent years through widespread exposure on satellite television.
"The children weren't doing cage fighting, they were doing what they call grappling. The cage fighting only comes when they're older," he said in a separate interview with Sky News.
A Lancashire Police spokesman said it had looked into whether any crime had been committed but would take no further action. The club's licence was in order to stage such events.
Chris Cloke, head of child protection awareness at children's charity NSPCC, said: "We would strongly discourage parents from letting their children take part in this kind of fighting.
"It's quite disturbing that some of those involved in the bouts were as young as eight, an age when they are still developing, physically and mentally.
"The organisers of these activities should think very carefully before allowing children to be involved when they are egged on to inflict violence."
Culture minister Jeremy Hunt condemned the video as "barbaric".
"Getting more young people doing sport is great but I do ask myself whether it really does have to be in a cage," Mr Hunt told the BBC.
"It just feels to me, it feels very barbaric and I know there are concerns about children that young doing a sport like that.
"I think if adults choose to do it, that's one thing ... I suppose I do share some of the shock that I think many of your viewers will feel."
A spokesman for Sharefight, the company commissioned to video the event, said the video had been online for two weeks without complaint but was taken down last night "out of respect" for parents and others who had shown concern.
He added that the event took place in a "safe environment" and under strict conditions.
He said: "What took place was safer than what happens in judo clubs and rugby training grounds up and down the country.
"People are reacting to the negative stereotype around cage fighting and the setting within a cage, but a cage makes it safer for the participant because it stops them falling from the ring.
"The event involving the children was submission wrestling. Contact between the participants was restricted at all times.
"I would liken it to a game of chess, it's about outsmarting your opponent rather than overcoming them."