I knew each and every details about those “Heroes in the Half Shell”. He-Man and Masters of the Universe were another important part of my childhood. Not only did I watch cartoons, but I also passionately collected all He-Man action figures of heroes. After the episode on TV (or VHS) was over, I used to play with these toys imagining how Man-at-Arms fights against Skeleton and destroys his army, or how villain Hordak attacks Castle Grayskull on the planet Eternia.

Many Saturday and Sunday mornings I also spent watching Disney animated feature films, like Beauty and the Beast (a monster winning heart of a beauty after so many troubles), The Sword in the Stone (battle of wizards), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (I have always feared this ugly evil witch and her poisonous apple might go after me while sleeping).

I like and enjoy in certain things. We all do. However, this does not mean that they are always good for us. We often realize that later on, as grown-ups. The same stands for cartoons. Beside the positive aspects of cartoons that you had the opportunity to read about in our blog last Friday, there are also some negative effects of such shows on children that parents should be aware of before letting their children watch them. Therefore, it might be useful to check out the “dark side” of this illustrated visual art, as some define cartoons.

1. Violence

Leonardo, one of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the blue one), viciously beats up and destroys the army of evil Krang. The result: broken arms and legs everywhere, smacked faces, ruined buildings, total destruction…Remember Tom and Jerry? Well, they fight and chase each other all the time, seeking some sort of revenge. The same situation is with Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner. Someone always gets beaten. Pretty hard beaten, I must add. Throwing a grand piano on someone’s head, gunshots, explosives in someone’s hand or mouth, and the loud explosion that follows, all of these are subliminal or quite 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. Experts from the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) say that kids who watch cartoons full of violence tend to be nervous, aggressive and disobedient. Moreover, these children are impatient. There are three main effects of cartoons that concern violence on children:

• they become insensitive to others’ pains and sorrow
• children do not feel discomfort from any elements of violence around them in real life
• children are prone to aggressive reactions and violent behaviour.

On the internet you can find many other studies regarding this issue. One of them is the study of scientist from Iowa State University. They found that animated shows aimed at youngsters often have more brutality than programmes broadcast for general audiences.

2. Health problems

Cartoon Pokémon, created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1995, belongs to anime, the Japanese name for animated film. Anime have a distinctive appearance (e.g. big eyes). The original name of the cartoon was Pocket Monsters. A year later, the name was shortened into Pokémon. Each episode of the cartoon is a special adventure of the main hero Ash Ketchum who fights against other trainers. Despite hard blows they receive all the time, Pokémon never die as they have the ability to recover energy.

In 1997 in Japan, 653 children were admitted to hospital for epileptic seizures. After detailed research it was found the seizures were caused by flashing red and blue lights which appeared in 38th episode of Pokémon, which children watched that night. The episode was never commercially released or re-broadcast anywhere in the world, as it was banned by the Japanese government.

There are other, less radical, health issues. For example, it is obvious that there is nothing good in sitting all day in front of the TV, watching cartoons. This can only weaken kids’ eye sight, or may lead to spine curvature disorders. Lack of physical activity also creates problems with obesity. Furthermore, many experts stress negative impact of cartoons on speech development of children by the age of three. Psychologists claim that watching cartoons is a passive activity in which there is no interaction required for proper speech development.

3. 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 spider web from the wrist, 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 children take cartoons to an extreme.

What can we do to reduce negative impacts and make cartoons a healthy entertainment for kids?

• Children must have a balanced lifestyle in everything they do, including watching cartoons.
• Parents should control and limit the time children spend watching TV or using a computer to maximum one hour a day.
• Parents must explain that the cartoon character in a certain scene has not been harmed, but would actually be seriously injured or die in real life. Parents should also tell their children that violent behaviour is not the best course of action to resolve a conflict.
• Some cartoons should have an age limit.
• Broadcasters should have professional teams (experts for children’s programme, editor and psychologist) that evaluate what should and what should not be shown on TV, as part of this programme and decide when is the appropriate time they can be broadcasted.
• Children should not be allowed to watch certain cartoons whose content they cannot understand.
• Parents should provide cartoons to their children which could have a positive impact on them.
• It would be better if parents also watch and discuss the characters of cartoons with children.

All the images in this post are screenshots of the relevant cartoons mentioned in the text, and do not belong to NDF.

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As a little girl, I enjoyed watching Disney animated movies based on fairy tales. I remember they took me to the world of imagination, where I was a princess, who was waiting for a prince charming to come and rescue me. My favourite fairy tale was “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs“. I will never forget how excited I have been while my brother and I prepared to go to the cinema with our parents, to watch this story in animated version, for the first time. Only later did VHS and videotapes come, enabling us to record and enjoy our favourite scenes and episodes. Snow White helped me in many ways. One of them was the fact that I started learning and practising my English, which I continued to study at the Institute for Foreign Languages in Belgrade. Thanks for that!

The Little Mermaid is also on the top of my best cartoons list. This is a symbolic story which tells children about perseverance, determination, love and purity of heart. Today, having children of my own, I always find time to sit with them and watch their favourite cartoons. From Baby TV channel – for the little ones, to the animated feature films. Everything has its value, and in the same time, it helps me remember all these wonderful things that we learn from cartoons. One can never be old enough to watch them.

What Can We Learn from Watching Cartoons

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Younger children learn new sounds, shapes and colours with the help of cartoons; they also get in contact with music in a different way (most of the times they are used to listen to songs on CD player or the radio); watching cartoons inspire kids to dance and to talk in a new, imaginative language only known to them… Parents must be trully delighted to see them so happy and joyful. At early age, children usually don’t have patience to listen to long bed time stories and tales we read to them. Instread, they prefer watching short cartoons. In that way, kids improve speech and vocabulary not only regarding their mother tongue, but they learn foreign language as well. Cartoon TV and Dexter Laboratory, for example, helped my younger brother start speaking English when he was only 6! Of course, a sister had her share in that, too.

As children grow up, we use cartoons to show them how things function in real life, explain them more about feelings and relationships in a way they can understand. We also show them how to deal with certain situations and people. Cartoons contain some valuable life lessons. With Peppa Pig children learn about making friends and friendship, how to accept and appreciate our differences, about positive things of playing outdoors. Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony teach youngsters about friendship, telling them it is something very precious and important, and showing how that with the help of friends you can resolve any problem. Bo on the go gets kids familiar with all the charms of physical culture. My second son, who is three and a half, imitates all the exercises Bo and her friends are doing. I find this very useful, especially during long winter months when we are not spending so much time outside. Animated movies based on fairy tales produced by Disney, Pixar or DreamWorks, teach us lying is wrong and that we should always listen to our conscience – a message from Pinocchio. With Dumbo and the Ugly Duckling we learn that it’s okay to be different and to accept and love ourselves. Children, especially boys, are very fond of Pixar cartoon Cars. It is much more than an ordinary car race. If you haven’t seen it, you have to check out this cartoon, which shows that it is not all about winning the race. Some other things are more important, such as the race itself, getting to know the route and the friends we make along the way  Up teaches us that love is possible at any age, and that long lasting friendships are the most precious thing in life. It is only thing that counts. Kung Fu Panda helps children discover there is no “secret recipe” that can guarantee success in anything, or rather that they have that recipe inside themselves – it is their inner strength, determination and will to do what their heart and imagination desire and to be what they trully are.

Cartoons are full of positive life messages. We, as parents, have to recognize it, and to show our children how to understand such stories, especially when the kids are still too young to realize their meaning. Also, it is a good idea to watch cartoons together. This will help the entire family to bond and become closer than before. Encourage children’s imagination and creativity. Let them talk about their favourite heroes or help them draw cartoon characters. Find and bring out your inner child. This is the best way to connect with your children and exactly the thing Peter Pan tells us.

Featured image:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/sapientiguana/11357760133/sizes/l/

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