Effects of Cartoons on Children

It all starts from “just 10 minutes”. Then slowly as your infant grows into an adamant fussy eater, the window goes to “just meal time”. And before you could gauge what’s keeping your child busy all the time, you would see your kid glued to cartoons. It’s an addiction, trust me! These fast-paced, colorful, engaging with over-the-top loud language and gripping storyline cartoons have managed to take up a crucial role in the lives of kids today. But what lies behind this curious world of cartoons? What are the effects of Cartoons on children?

Let’s face it, we can’t really blame everything on kids. Parents are now using the television, particularly cartoons/ animated games, manipulatively as a way of entertaining their children while they attempt to accomplish other things such as household chores & catching up with virtual friends (thanks to Social media).

I don’t intend to be harsh here, but that’s a reality with many of us. I would be guilty of the same as well, at times. Also, cartoons respond to the children’s need and tendency to activeness.

Typically, children begin watching cartoons on television at an early age of six months, and by the age two or three children become enthusiastic viewers. During the early years of a child’s development, they have extremely impeccable minds due to which external stimuli have a major role in shaping their personalities- television viewing being one such external stimuli.

But what really are these cartoons doing to our children’s minds?

Effects on Behaviour

While cartoons have existed since ages and we have all grown up watching those. But what differentiates the cartoons of earlier times to the ones our kids watch today is the degree of Violence depicted. In fact, frequency of violence in cartoons is higher than in live-action dramas or comedies

Kids, especially under the age of seven think that whatever happens in cartoons are all real and they can do everything that the characters in cartoons do. For example, if we think about a five or six years old children, it’s probable that they can jump from the roofs to fly, climb on the walls like Spiderman, talk to their toys or to feed them as if they are alive. This actually nonexistent reality in cartoons is what leads the children to all these dangerous deeds.
They end of failing to gauge the degree of danger or pain they can take. For example when the character jumps down a tree and there is no physical pain caused, the kids will try to do this as well as kids will not understand that it is a dangerous thing to do.

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Effects on Developing mind

The majority of cartoons are filled with violence & bad language and therefore have a negative impact on a child’s developing mind. A child’s mind is like a sponge, it absorbs everything they see and hear. If they are constantly exposed to cartoons with violence and fighting it will affect them morally and may lead to teenage violence in the future.

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Effects on Personality & Social skills

Instead of spending time outdoors, kids are seen addicted to cartoons. And they tend to spend hours sitting in front of the television instead of socialising and making new friends. This goes to the extent that at times split personality is surfaced in kids, when they try to mimc a cartoon character and then enact the sequence. The surge to have a friend like Doremon, who could solve any and every problem using a gadget, is so high that kids tend to look out for shortcuts in tackling everyday life obstacles.

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Effects on buying habits

It is literally impossible to walk into any store today and not see any licensed cartoon merchandise. From playing cards to toothpaste, these companies have covered every angle possible. By doing this it makes it impossible for a child to walk into a store and not want a specific item.

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Effects on Anger Management

Have you seen kids grinding teeth, clenching fists, eye-rolling & sweating when angry? Now think of how a cartoon character is decipicted when angry- with red hot head, steams coming out of the ears and nostrils enlarged with fumes. Do you see any co-relation? It is only making those little minds believe that anger can look so wild and entertaining. But in reaity this is not good for the nervous system.

Effects on Health

Children who spend inordinate amounts of time in front of the television don’t always get as much exercise as they should and thus are more likely to be overweight.
Harms eyesight- as it contains flashing lights and fast moving pictures, it can be harmful
Detrimental effect on the brains of children who watch too many cartoons, including children developing attention deficit disorder and seizures.

However, with the variety of cartoons that exist nowadays with over a dozen channels 24*7, children tend to learn a variety of things easily by watching educational cartoon films. Infants and toddlers start learning different words, launguages and their meanings. Also, cartoons have a tremendous impact in improving the cognitive aspects among young children. Children become more creative by watching cartoon films. They try to do things in different ways so their imagination and creativity is enhanced.

We can’t deny the fact that our mind is more active when it comes to visual learning rather than other learning methods. Watching cartoons can enhance the talent of children. When they see a character dancing or singing or even playing a musical instrument, it inspires the child to do the same thing. This in turn encourages the kid to pursue that as a hobby. Children tend to learn a variety of things easily by watching educational cartoon films. Movies on mythological characters help in educating child about our history, culture etc and make them learn good habits

Kids have a growing curious mind with fast learning capability by observing things. And that’s why cartoons directly make an impact on their minds and nature as well. As parents it is our responsibility to lead children to watch cartoons having positive effect and help them choose a healthy environment.

What we can do as Parents?

Regulate & Participate.

Simply saying, keep a check on what children are watching. Go a step further and watch the shows with your child and ask questions to understand what they infer from cartoon shows. The more interaction that you have with your child the better they will understand that this is an imaginary world. Spend time outdoors ; this will limit the screen time and evolve your relationship in a healthy manner. As parents, it is our responsibility to lead children to watch cartoons having a positive effect and help them choose a healthy environment.

What do you think about the effects of cartoons on children? How do you regulate your child’s time spent with cartoons? Please share in comments below.

Go Mommy!

Psst…I love watching ‘Shawn the sheep’ at times ! 😉

This post has originally been written for http://www.hellparent.in