Many children watch cartoons on a daily basis, I know I did when I was a kid. But how much time do kids put into watching these cartoons and what do they walk away with when they do. Our growing environment and media portray things a certain way and TV has incorporated some of that into the cartoons. Many kids from the ages of 3-5 start picking up the images of TV and as the ages go up they seem to express some of what they watched through their lives during the day. A study was done on preschoolers, the children who watched cartoons with violent acts in them, shown more aggreession and were more likely to act out on the playground; not follow the rules. So, children who watched cartoons that were non-violent showed opposite symptoms, they were very calm and attentive. I would like to bring a case from another class of mine, the boy was 12 years old and he killed a 6 year old girl by abusing her. His defense was that he was practicing wrestle mania which he watched on TV. If this is true, which it may be, then as children grow up from cartoons around age 8 and start watching more violent, realistic TV. How are they developing socially and mentally; is this damaging them in the long run?
Since most of us have either already started or are close to starting our own families, this article provides useful insight into a problem in millions of homes across the globe: television. DITCH THE TUBE! SET YOURSELF FREE! Er, ahem....uh... whew. But seriously. Set yourself free. I haven't had a television in 3 years. Not because I'm on some anti-television crusade, or because my parents are right wing fundamentalist christians, or because there's nothing good to watch. There's a zillion fabulous things to watch for everybody. However, it seems often forgotten that mankind has persisted through fantastic hardships and ordeals without the aid of a shiny blinky box to entertain us. I'm not saying the cure for cancer would've been at CVS already if we watched less television, BUT THE CURE FOR CANCER MIGHT HAVE BEEN AT CVS ALREADY IF WE WATCHED LESS TELEVISION!
Moral of story: If your kids don't watch television, they may not be as violent.
Second moral of story: If your kids don't watch television, they'll be nerds. Just make sure they have access to really good music okay?