Mother blames television violence in son's death By The Associated Press Jul 24, 2001 : 12:07 pm ET

ROARING RIVER -- The mother of a 9-year old boy who was tossed on his head by a teen-ager and died said Tuesday she tried to get her son to watch educational shows on television instead of pro wrestling. [OG Pronouncement: If this mother can't handle a 9-year old's TV viewing habits, well. . .]

Julie Garland is the mother of Derek Garland, who died July 17 after grappling with 16-year-old Jason Crabb.

"It was a wrestling move that they seen on television. I think television violence is to blame for a lot of it," Garland said on CBS' "The Early Show." "Derek, he liked to watch it. I just didn't -- well, it had a lot of vulgarity and violence and I tried to encourage him to watch educational television."

Derek had been left alone with Crabb, whose father is Julie Garland's fiance. Crabb told sheriff's deputies that Derek jumped off a bed and onto his back. Crabb, who weighs about 225 pounds, flipped the 65-pound boy over his back. Derek died later that night at Wilkes Regional Medical Center.

An autopsy showed that Derek's neck was damaged and that he had suffered a head injury.

Julie Garland said Derek was intimidated by the older boy.

"I'll never forget the look in his eyes that day when I left. And I don't think I'll ever be able to stop blaming myself," she said. "If I had taken him with me that day, I'd still have my baby."

The victim's father, Dwight Garland, who is separated from Julie Garland, said he had warned Derek not to imitate the wrestling he saw on television.

"I had warned him every time that he watched wrestling on TV, I made sure he knew," he said on NBC's "Today" show. "I said 'Derek, this is fake. If you try this, you will get hurt. Those people get hurt sometimes, and you will get seriously hurt if you try it."'

He said later on MSNBC that televised wrestling alone is not to blame.

"A lot of this stuff parents let the kids watch these days is violence," he said.

Wilkes County Sheriff Dane Mastin told the Winston-Salem Journal he asked the State Bureau of Investigation for help investigating Derek's death.

No charges are expected until after the investigation is finished, Mastin said.

"We're trying to fast-track this investigation so that we can make a determination as quickly as possible," he said.

Derek's mother said charging Jason would not help her family.

"I think Jason would need now is psychological support, some type of help on that line," she said. "I don't think I could deal with a court trial. I'm going through so much right now. This is just about unbearable."

World Wrestling Federation spokesman Gary Davis cautioned against blaming pro wrestling in Derek's death, as happened in the Florida murder trial of Lionel Tate.

Tate, 14, was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of a 6-year-old girl. He said he was imitating the body-slamming of professional wrestlers.

-- Anonymous, July 25, 2001

Answers

When I was in gradeschool and junior high (60's-70's) my mother forbade us from watching wrestling, roller derby, and The Three Stooges. She said we didn't need any help finding new ways to hurt ourselves.

Anyway, when she said "you can't watch that", it didn't get watched. Period. End of discussion. If we argued about it, the TV got turned off and stayed off.

-- Anonymous, July 25, 2001

The tv in my house is MINE. The kids aren't allowed to watch anything I don't approve of. I approve of very little. Keeps the electric bill down! If they don't like it, they are welcome to fill up their free time with educational activities so that they can get good jobs so that they can afford a good shrink.

My husband bought a cheap used nintendo set with several games. He isn't as picky about what the kids see, but even he took some of the games out and put them away from the kids. He allowed them to keep a game where there is directed violence like kicking and punching -- I work nights, I would have said NO -- and within two days one of the little ones had thoughtlessly threatened to "kick your butt" to my husband. The baby was kicking doors and threatening to "punch you head off". I put that one away.

We're so boring that all of our kids select non-fiction books when we go to the library! >;)

-- Anonymous, July 25, 2001

I adore boring children and tell them and their parents so whenever I see them behaving nicely in public. Their parents positively beam with sunshine and the kids grin and look at their folks with pride. On the other hand, I have been known to complain strongly to wait staff about kids screaming and running around and spoiling my dinner. If they don't aask the parents to control their kids, I don't go back to that restaurant.

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2001