Influences of Cartoons on Children

In this chapter the researcher gathered information that would answer the problems stated in this research. The researcher gathered mostly of the information through blogs or documents that could be found in the internet. In a news article written by Alia Bibi & Roshan Zehra (2012), “Effects of Cartoons on children’s psychology and behavioural patterns”, said that with the limitlessness 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 favourite activity of theirs. Time which was previously spent by children in outdoor activities is now replaced, as now they can be found glued to the TV sets for long hours, peering at all sorts of cartoons, mostly without the supervision of elders who are completely unaware that this might have certain effects on their psychological development later on displayed in their behaviour patterns. (www.thenews.com.pk)( 2012)

Alia Bibi & Roshan Zehra (2012) also implied in their news article that according to a research carried out by The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), “Children who view shows in which violence is very realistic, frequently repeated or unpunished, are more likely to imitate what they see.” (www.thenews.com.pk)(2012) The time we live now is a time where people can gain access to whatever they want in just one click just like a kid who wants to watch cartoons in the internet and for the parents of the child, as said in the news article parents has become more convenient to let their child watch the cartoons that the child like. The child’s physical activity is also affected because some of them spend longer time in watching cartoons instead of doing outdoor activity according to the news article written by Alia,B. and Roshan,Z(2012), Also the news article also stated that mostly children watch cartoons without the supervision of elders, who are completely unaware what type of cartoons the child is watching. Therefore according to this news article, there are also negative effects of cartoons or something that influences the child negatively given that the guardian or the parents left their child watching cartoons unknowingly what type of cartoons their child is watching.

It is stated in the news article that some parents left their child in a long period of time in watching cartoons and this affects their physical activities because the time that they used in watching should also be used in studying or doing physical activities or outdoor activities. According to Sila Zahid’s (2011) article, “Negative Impacts of Cartoons”: Three major effects on children have been proven by psychological research because of violence on television. Children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others; children who watch violence neither fear violence nor are they bothered by violence in general. Children are more likely to become aggressive or resort to harmful actions towards others (Negative impact of cartoons, para. 2). These three major effects on children from watching violence from cartoons tells us that violence in cartoons is really bad for the psychological aspect of the child because the child become less sensitive, aggressive and do harmful actions to the people around them all because of the violence shown in the cartoon show that the child watch.

Sila Zahid (2011) also stated that, “As a result, a tremendous amount of childhood involvement with the electronic media can limit social interaction and may obstruct the development of a brain’s social functions” (Negative impact of cartoons, para. 2). Sila Zahid (2011) said that tremendous amount of childhood involvement with electronic media can affect the development of a brain’s social function. Just like a child watching too much cartoons can affect the social interaction of the child to other people. Thus cartoons affect the child’s relationship toward other people and also the formation of character of the child. In a blog by Althea Thompson entitled “Pros & Cons of Cartoons on Kids” : A child watches approximately 18,000 hours of television from kindergarten to high school graduation, according to a research by psychologist Steve Hossler of Bowling Green State University. Specifically, watching cartoons has a negative effect on the way children view violence. Cartoons often depict violent acts like explosions, gunshots and death.

However, these acts of violence occur in extreme situations with no consequences. A child’s brain, emotions and sense of pain are negatively affected because they become desensitized to violence. In 2000, the U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher created a report on adolescent violence where he stated that aggressive behavior in young children is caused by frequently watching entertainment with violence in it.( www.ehow.com)(n.d.) Althea Thompson stated that “ A positive effect of cartoons in children is its stimulation of learning. The Education Resources Information Center presented an article by Robert Gill in 2000 called “The Effects of Cartoon Characters as Motivators of Preschool Disadvantaged Children.” Gill suggests that cartoons help teachers reach curriculum goals and help preschool age children reach higher levels of learning. Gill’s research concluded that using a cartoon character in classroom material stimulates interpersonal behavior, learning and social development in children. Consistent use of the same cartoon character helps children become comfortable to express their feelings and understanding of the subject.

Gill states that children who use work material with a cartoon character learn more than children using the same material without the cartoon character”. ( www.ehow.com)(n.d.) The parents also have a responsibility to do for their children. A news article written by Alia Bibi & Roshan Zehra (2012) also addressed that, “The influence of cartoons can be made positive by a little effort on the part of parents or elders. They should make their kids realize that these fantasy things have no true value and identity, no such ‘Spiderman’ exists who will jump from top of one building to another with the help of his web, there is no such ‘Ben 10’ wristwatch which will start blinking and will alert Ben of every evil action before hand. If someone is killed or beaten up by cartoons it does not mean that kids should also start doing the same. Parents need to keep an eye on their children’s activities and should be observant of any peculiar changes in their behaviour. With intervals they should have an interrogation session with them and try to clear the reality of things and should answer the controversial and ambiguous questions they have in their mind.

Thus, for making cartoons a healthy entertainment and a good and effective source of learning for children parents should pay a little heed towards providing selective cartoons to their children which could have a positive impact on them.” (www.thenews.com.pk)( 2012) Children are shown that violence is not okay and thought to care about and was to help other people and animals the effect of cartoons on toddlers has gone from being a negative one only offering distraction homer to becoming positive by teaching them about love life and being kind hearted humans not saying people who watched Looney Toons as a child turned out to be negative destructive people the fact is that cartoon craters have taken the negatively and violence out of their shows and as for as most can see it has made a positive difference in our youth toddles and other children this day and age are kind more creative individuals they care about helping others animals and the environment something that most of us as children knew little about. (Pandit, 2012)

Justification of the Study
The researcher chose this topic because the researcher wants to see the different influences a child might get from watching cartoons. The researcher also believes that this study would be helpful to the society especially on the children who are watching cartoons and to the parents or guardians of the children to be aware of what cartoons their child may and may not watch. As shown in some related literature on the influences of cartoons letting the child watch what they want may affect them positively or negatively which depends on the type of cartoons they are watching. Some cartoons’ influences are bad for the children like they tend to be more aggressive and some imitate what they see and like a child watching too much cartoons can affect the social interaction of the child to other people but some cartoons teach them good values.