Children and Cartoons

Viewing violence encourages children to see other people as enemies rather as individuals with thoughts and feelings like themselves. Violent scenes less arouses children whom watch a lot of TV than those who only watch a little. They are less bothered by violence in general and less likely to see anything wrong with it. "For example, in several studies, children who watched a violent program instead of a non-violent one were less quick to intervene or to call for

When I was a young child around the years between seven and twelve, I used to come home from school and watch Family Guy. My mom would often catch me watching this show and yell at me, but to be honest I thought it was funny. So I told my dad that I was watching Family Guy quite often and he didn’t even care, so it all worked out. One thing that I noticed through all of this, is that I knew I was watching a great cartoon when I would watch ut over and over again and feel entertained by it. That’s what i did all the time with Family Guy and Spongebob and other various cartoons. I would come home and watch them and even watch these shows before school to get me motivated for the day. Not only did I love the creativity, but the humor and great

     Many types of violence are viewed in cartoons and because they are centered on the interest of children, children are at great risk of mimicking the actions and attitudes the characters portray.

Sometimes watching animated or cartoons can teach us more life lessons than our family and friends can teach us. Cartoons, in general, are synonym for entertainment, pleasure and laughter, which comes with moral and huge life lessons to follow, which make life simpler, easier and of course, more beautiful. For example, after watching the animated movie “How to Train Your Dragon” it made me think how important it is not to judge anything before getting to know it (even if it is a fire breathing dragon).

(“Are My Kids’ Favorite Cartoons Too Political?”)(pathos) Prime time animated cartoons tend to glorify violence and teach children that it is more of a game than it is serious. According to Mark Joseph Stern, “When California tried to ban the sale of violent video games to minors, the Supreme Court mocked its efforts, noting that old Looney Tunes cartoons provoked the same tendency toward violence in children as a Grand Theft Auto–style bloodbath.” (Stern)(ethos) For instance, in “The Simpsons”, when Bart and Lisa watch “Itchy and Scratchy”, Scratchy always dies and Bart and Lisa laugh, which results in teaching kids that manslaughter is alright. Cartoons these days are desensitizing kids towards violence. Researchers have proven that, “Today's animation and games are so realistic it can be hard for kids to tell the difference between ‘pretend' violence and live action, making some animation just as disturbing as the real thing.” (“Does Cartoon Violence Make Kids More Aggressive?”)(ethos) Take “Tom and Jerry” for instance, this animated cartoon is designed for five year olds. “Tom and Jerry” was reviewed as three out of five stars for violence and scariness, as well as two out of five stars for drinking, drugs, and smoking from Common Sense Media. (Sheppard)(logos) Although these shows are remembered as ‘classic’, there is no educational value behind

In fact, there has been many tests done that have proven that the kids that do watch violent shows, even if they appear to be harmless, will progressively have negative attitudes. And being disobedient and destructive will become normal for them. For example, young children learn from things that they see. If a child sees someone say thank you they may learn to be polite also, which means if they see people reacting in violent ways on television they may start to react the same way.

Moving away from education, even entertainment is a serious purpose displayed in cartoons. Just like Family Guy, People can watch it to relieve stress and take their minds off of their busy schedule for a little while. Many people have a lot to balance and think about in what they do on a daily basis which is not easy for anyone to handle regardless of their expertise in what they do. Therefore, cartoons provide the serious purpose of entertainment as an outlet to the all the stress.

Every time when I talk about kids animated shows with my friends, they usually don't want to watch it because they assume that it could be childish or it doesn't involve real people within it. It may be true that some cartoon shows might be pointless, however, various cartoons actually have some depth within it. It is understandable why some people dislike animated tv shows. They are usually not meant to be taken seriously, it is intended to have a humorous look on life and the situation at hand. This does not mean it cannot evolve into something much more. For example, the animated show Adventure Time involves playful stupidity while conveying dark stories and characters within its episodes and including meaningful themes in it.

When a child watching the cartoon, they are still very young to decide what is normal and what is not. When they see that in the cartoons, Characters behave in any way, and no one condemns - the child receives this model of behavior as normal. And they model in their life, what they see. The child which is watching Soviet cartoons will think that courage and honor - this is normal, to set goals and reach them - this is normal, to fight and win - this is normal. Being, the creator and author of his own destiny - this is normal. Child watching American cartoons will think that when someone controls you - this is normal, betrayal and loneliness

Secondly, violence in cartoons has come to a point where it is affecting the way children live their lives; they are becoming more hostile. Any person watching a single violent television program can become more aggressive; in children, this phenomenon is also applicable. In reality, children are more affected by television than the average adult. Children who watch violent television programming, especially programming in which the violence or aggression is realistic, frequent and/or unpunished tend to become more violent and aggressive, immediately after the program and/or much later, sometimes even years later (Parenthood Web). When children watch Might Morphin Power Rangers, a program that is mostly occupied with solving their problems with their fists rather than your words, they don’t see the consequences. In fact the characters in these shows, like the Power Rangers, are often praised and not punished for being violent. Through a child’s eyes violent behavior is an acceptable solution, and they are often don’t learn more acceptable techniques of problem solving in shows like these. In fact, according to recent research, "children's programs are the least likely of all genres [of television shows] to show the long-term negative consequences of violence (Liebert

There are many effects cartoons can have and many them aren't good, for example if a youngster was to watch 4+ hours of cartoons every day there would be a higher chance of obesity, the child could be struggling with social skills as it is much easier to just switch on the tv than talk to someone. If a child watches violent cartoons regularly, they are more likely to desensitize to violence and loss, also if a child was to watch cartoons where a character jumped out of a tree and walked away without a scratch the child may do the same (https://www.azernews.az/analysis/58562.html) .Like I said in my introduction with the

In 73 percent of violent scenes, the perpetrators go unpunished possibly leading children to assume violence is successful and acceptable. About half of the violent acts on television show no harm to the victim and more than half show no pain. Handguns are involved in one out of every four violent confrontations. Surprisingly, children's programs often present violence as funny and rarely shows long-term consequences for violent actions. These programs viewed by children do not offer violence in an appropriate context ("TV Violence and Kids" 234).

These children do not understand that the violence is shown strictly because the public wants to see it. They cannot grasp the meaning of "ratings" and "entertainment" as well as adults can. All they know is, "if the TV portrays violence as cool, then it must be cool!" The problem isn't the violence in the media though; it is the media's failure to show the consequences of violence. This is especially true of cartoons, toy commercials, and music videos. Children often do not realize that it hurts to hit someone else because they see it all the time on TV. Everyday a cartoon character is beat up, injured, or killed, only to return in the very next episode, good as new. As a result, children learn that there are few, if any repercussions for committing violent acts.

Historically, cartoons have always evolved along two different paths. Because the potential for silliness, absurdity and unreality are magnified by the possibilities of animation, cartoons are accurately thought of as being perfect for the elastic and growing mind of children. However, because of many of these same characteristics, cartoons have always been seen as an ideal medium for biting satire and ridiculous farce aimed at adults. Today, with the availability of information and media at the most saturated level it has ever been, the line between these two separate paths has become blurred. As a result, there is a sense amongst social critics that cartoons on television are more explicitly stocked with drug use, violence and other adult themes than even in the generation of cartoons just passed.

Children view violence in different ways when they watch it on television, whether it is cartoons or a type of drama and action programming. After children have watched these television shows, they may have interpreted the meaning into a negative behavior. It could influence them by becoming aggressive, afraid of the world that surrounds them, or it may lead to confusion. When it is said that children may become confused because their parents teach that violence is wrong. When they view someone in a “superhero” position participating in violence, they may see that as it is all right for the simple fact the good person does the action. According to the American Academy of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry, “the impact of TV violence may be immediately evident in the child's behavior or may surface years later (AACAP, 2011).”