Cartoons are very interesting,
generous, friendly and very sweet. Their tremendously expressive face attracts
children a lot. But parents think that after watching it children may not
concentrate and focus very well but the researchers concluded that after
watching fast-paced programs it over-stimulate young kids’ brains. Watching
these cartoons makes it harder to employ executive function in the brain, the
process used to complete tasks. In addition, children “may mimic” characters
afterward. I don’t think this means cartoons are bad or that kids should never
be allowed to watch it, by any means. I think it all comes down to knowing your
child and seeing how shows on TV affect him or her. We actually didn’t allow our
children to watch cartoons when he was younger — not because we were opposed to
it, but because he acted like the characters from the show after watching it.
The study, which appeared in the Sept. 12 issue of the journal Pediatrics,
involved 60 children whose parents reported similar levels of
television-watching and attention skills. The children were randomly assigned to
one of three groups: one watched nine minutes of the cartoon, another viewed
nine minutes of the educational program “Callous,” and the remaining group spent
the time with drawing paper, markers and crayons.
The tests were administered immediately after the children watched the program
and were designed to assess what is known as children’s executive function,
which underlies attention, working memory, problem-solving and the delay of
gratification. The children were given tasks that involved following
instructions, reversing the order of numbers and resisting treats.
“The children who watched the cartoon were operating at half the capacity
compared to other children,” said Angeline S. Lillard, a professor of psychology
at the University of Virginia an one of the paper’s authors.
She further said that cartoons shouldn't be singled out– there were similar
findings with other fast-paced shows. She also pointed out that the study showed
young children are compromised immediately after watching the show. It's not a
good idea for children to watch stimulating cartoons if they need to exercise
self-control and focus immediately afterwards. It's also a bad idea to watch
stimulating TV before bed.
In this particular study, the size of the group was small, and the children were
tested immediately after the activity with measures that called for attention
and self-control. Maybe they would have been more creative, or been able to do
better on a test of making up stories. Who knows? There still is no question
that the study supports many others concluding that electronic media are having
a significant impact on kids.