Kids cartoon shows have always been looked at as a positive key part of a kids childhood, but what if there is a negative part to it that no one talks about.
Cartoon shows in most people’s eyes are a great form of entertainment as a child, but for some people it is the opposite. Some people do not allow their kids to watch cartoons growing up. Why is this? When I heard that some of my friends were not allowed to watch these shows like SpongeBob, my jaw dropped. I had never heard of not being allowed to watch SpongeBob, an iconic kids cartoon show which was a big part of my life personally.
Zach Marinopoulos, a local student here at IHS is one of many that was not allowed to watch these cartoon shows. In an interview with him he stated, “I was not allowed to watch shows like SpongeBob because my mother did not want me learning and developing bad habits from these fictional shows that might have a misleading way on how you should act.“ So his mother was more worried about the show “miss” educating him and teaching him “false” things that might stick with him through growing up. But do these shows really send the wrong message to young kids? Experts from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) say that Kids who watch cartoons full of violence tend to be nervous, aggressive and disobedient. Moreover, these children are impatient. For example, the show Tom and Jerry has many violent scenes, such as throwing a grand piano on someone’s head, gunshots, and explosives in someone’s hand or mouth, followed by a loud explosion. All of these are subliminal or direct messages depicting violence that flow into children’s minds. Kids absorb these scenes like a sponge and accept violence as something quite normal and common. Children who view shows in which violence is very realistic, frequently repeated or unpunished, are more likely to imitate what they see.
Another issue that these shows can cause for children is providing inappropriate role models. While watching cartoons, children often identify themselves with the characters. However, the problem is that these characters are usually inappropriate for any identification, since they are too aggressive, or have supernatural powers: they can fly, shoot spiderwebs from their wrists, jump from the top of a skyscraper on the buildings nearby, throw a lightning bolt, run faster than the wind, fall from the 10th floor and stay unharmed, beat 15 criminals single-handedly, and similar. These aggressive characters may easily turn into role models. Without the supervision of the parents, who will explain the difference between reality and fiction (which is not always the case since they are usually busy and prefer to leave the kids in front of the TV), children can use cartoons as a substitute for real life. This might be a threat for the child’s psychological development. Unfortunately, there are cases where kids take cartoons to an extreme. An article from the University of Rochester medical center states “Some programs can be educational. But many children watch too much digital media. Many programs can show children violent behavior that you don’t want them to imitate, or that can cause fear”.
There is a clear point that children can develop bad habits from cartoon shows. Although this might not be obvious or happen all the time, there are small parts of your habits, thoughts or actions that were caused by cartoon shows or digital media growing up.
