Children and Cartoons: My Humble Opinion

Children and Cartoons: My Humble Opinion

I have children at home and whenever I came back home after job I usually find them watching cartoon. At times when we talk and play together I observed a shift in their behavior, body language and way of talking. They talk while doing the mimicry of their favorite cartoon character, they tend to show more anger and at time affection as well. I have seen him watching Shinchan and Doremon the most. At time I find them giving each-other name of different cartoon characters and talking in the way they talk. I have observed some good and bad changes in them and they usually connect it with cartoons. For brief example- I will eat cake as dora cake is Doremon’s favorite cake.

I read about such impact during my Course; that Media create a impact on children. It impacts their behavior. When I think about the word cartoon, the first thing that comes to mind is children. I think children and cartoon have a relationship. These two words ‘Children and Cartoon’ cannot be apart. This thought also makes me curious about the positive and negative impact cartoon have on children’s’ mind.

In this essay (based on various online articles/ readings and Researches and my personal Experiences) I will touch on what I have learned about the effects of cartoons on children's behavior, their brains and eyes, increased risk of child safety, and the subliminal messages that may be hidden in cartoons. I will also look at the effects of different types of cartoons, such as educational and aggressive to try and answer my question on how cartoons really affect children. When beginning with the answer of my Curiosity, I came up with various researches and Articles. I will try to involve them as well with my own experiences.

Let’s first understand the term- “Cartoon” The term “Cartoon” originated in the Middle Ages when it was referred to as a preparatory drawing for a piece of art. It was in the 19th century that the cartoons became humorous illustrations in magazines and newspapers and from the 20th century forward, cartoons have been referred to as comic strips and animated films. With the rise of Television, different channels started airing cartoons. The main focus of this research is also on the cartoons series which are televised regularly.

Cartoons are mostly based on fantasized stories aimed at creating an imaginative world in the viewer’s mind. The main target audiences of TV channels through cartoons are children and teenagers. Cartoons are of different genres i.e. action, comedy, educational etc. The basic purpose that cartoons serve is to provide entertainment and education on certain topics of life. It is evident that cartoons have a great effect on the development of a child’s behavior and mentality. Cartoons serve as a good medium for the education of a child but the bad effects outweigh its good ones.

Now let’s talk about some good and bad impact of cartoon with the reference of online articles/ readings and Researches and my personal Experiences

Positive Impact:

Children spent their maximum time in watching cartoons. They consciously and unconsciously learn various things from them. Cartoons make them Imaginative- As stated earlier as well, cartoons create the imaginary world. Cartoons develop the imagination in kids. They make them thing beyond the world present to them. They see talking animals and birds, use of different non-exist gadgets etc. Let me share my personal examples here-

Once I was talking to one of my nephew. During the discussion we came across the point where I am facing a problem due to loose of my Mobile phone and I have nothing and nobody to seek help. I asked him, what will you do in such situation. He came-up with the immediate answer. He said, I will call Doremon and with the help of his gadgets I will come back home.

Once we were just looking at the clear sky and my niece created a whole story with some imaginary character she can see in the clouds. 

Help in Exploring and Problem- Solving- Let me take a example of cartoon ‘Dora the explorer’. In this series Dora the Girl explores the world. She came across to different questions, problem and puzzles. She solve all of them virtually while taking her audience along. Such cartoons develop the problem solving skills in them.

The article was 343published in 2012 on The International News website, and was written by Alia Bibi and Roshan Zehra. Bibi and Zehra say that with a little parental control to choose educational programs, some exposure to cartoons can actually be beneficial to children's learning. Shows such as 'Dora the Explorer', ‘Sid the Science Kid’ etc. can be used to stimulate brain activity to allow children to learn things such as shape and identify colors, problem solving skill, Identification and so on. Exposing children to a healthy amount of cartoon such as these educational ones and explaining to your children that the realities of other cartoon are not real can actually benefit them. 

Some good cartoon help children develop good habits as well. Popeye the sailor man He convinced American kids to eat spinach As all Popeye fans know, whenever the sailor feels in need of some extra strength, he simply downs a tin of spinach, and instantly sprouts bulging biceps. During the Great Depression, a 33% increase in spinach consumption was widely attributed to the character's popularity and his famous fondness for the green stuff. Rather endearingly, spinach was also listed as the third favorite food of American children at the time (after turkey and icecream). However, the cartoon's link between spinach and rapidly expanding muscles actually had its roots in a scientific mistake: due to a misplaced decimal point in an 1870 medical journal, many people in the Thirties believed spinach held 10 times more iron than it really did. 

Article published in 2012 on The International News website, and was written by Alia Bibi and Roshan Zehra talks about how children have changed in the recent years from doing activities outdoors to sitting inside and watching television because it is so easily available today. Bibi and Zehra agree that "with the vastness of media and extension of channels, it has become easier for children to watch their favourite cartoons on a single click and at the same time it has become more convenient for parents to provide children with this all-time favorite activity of theirs." Since it is so easily available, parents need to monitor what their children are watching because at such a young age children's brains are still developing and they are unable to tell the difference between fantasy and reality

Now come on the negative impact of cartoons.

Negative Impact:

Every Coin has two sides, same goes with cartoons as well. Along with its positive impact it has negative impact as well.

In my opinion cartoon have negative impact more than positive. Children often imitate their favorite cartoon character. They imitate their body language and way of talking. Some even imitate their dialogue as well. They even imitate the anger and violence shown in them.

Example- My nephew Raghav and Keshav spent their most of time watching ‘Doremon’ cartoon. Keshav the younger brother is more tall and healthy than Raghav. He use to call himself Ziyan (fat and tall- powerful character of the cartoon) and call Raghav Suzuki (another character of cartoon). Keshav used to shout and talk to Raghav like ziyan. He even fights with him like Ziyan and Suzuki do in Doremon. I have observed them using the same dialogue to convey their anger as well.

A research conducted by The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) shows that children who watch realistic and frequently repeated violent shows are more likely to repeat that behavior in their own lives

Example- As per the news published in one of the site I have researched Tragedy struck an Andheri (E) family when a 13-year-old boy died while trying to imitate the actions he saw in a cartoon show at home. The MIDC police said Class VIII student Abhishek Thakkar met with an accidental death after he tried to carry out a stunt that involved Hanging himself from the ceiling.

On the website Effects of Cartoon on Children, which was published in 2004, there are multiple authors that express their view points by attributing a little article to this website. The first article is titled "Mental and Psychological Effects of Children's Cartoons" written by Stevie Hossler. Stevie talks about how cartoons have become violent and addictive to children and also how they have hidden adult subliminal messages to allow for parents to enjoy the cartoons along with their children. This is a major issue because the children that are watching these cartoons are not mature enough for the material, which may cause mental and emotional problems. The cartoons have also become more violent in their content.

Children are even becoming lazy due to watching Television more. They tend to ignore their work.

Spending too much indoor, effect their physical and mental growth as well.

Conclusion-

The best way to avoid this kind of problem occurring in one’s child is by monitoring the type of TV shows and cartoons that he watches. Parents should tell their children that hitting someone in the face hurts unlike what they see in the cartoons. Even when you do choose great quality shows, there are some other things that parents and caregivers need to remember as these shows are being watched. Watch the shows with your child. The more interaction that you have with your child the better they will understand the concepts that are being shared in the program. Ask your child questions as you watch, help them discover the right answer, or help her to make predictions about what will happen next. Limit the amount of time that you allow your child to watch cartoons. Even with high quality, educational programming, it is important to keep the time that children watch television to a minimum. There are other ways to learn so be sure to investigate some of those too.

In light of the above discussion it is eminent that children should be regulated by their Parents for what they watch. The reason being that the children themselves are at the learning phase of their lives and much cannot be expected from them. It is the sole responsibility of the parents to regulate the kind of cartoon programs their children watches, as it has great effects on his whole life. The cartoons should be made with a sense of responsibility. They should have a definite & constructive purpose behind them. Cartoons should portray the culture and the norms of the society in which they are being displayed. I personally am going to take the initiative to limit the television time, along with making an effort to only select educational, violence free cartoons for the children. Along with this, I am going to encourage more interactive play and do more things outdoors with them, and also encourage others to do the same.

References

1. (Alia Bibi & Roshan Zehra, 2012) http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-128111-Effects-of-cartoons-onchildren%E2%80%99s-psychology-&-behaviour-patterns

2. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-18/mumbai/30414655_1_cartoon-character-mezzanine-floor-simran

3. http://www.tv.com/news/boy-dies-after-friends-imitate-naruto-11008/

4. (Dr. Ruebert Saturnine III, 2004) http://www.awn.com/articles/adverse-effects-cartoons-minds-our-children

5. (Stevie Hossler, 2004) http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/tcom/faculty/ha/tcom103fall2004/gp9/

6. http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/Some-Children's-TV-Shows-are-Bad-for-Their-Brains.aspx

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