Cartoon Violence

872 Words2 Pages

Cartoons on a television are glue to children. Children will spend hours a day watching their favorite cartoons, such as “SpongeBob SquarePants” or “Adventure Time.” Unfortunately, the content on these shows, and several others, can harm children. Directly, cartoons can affect how children think and act; additionally, this leads to the indirect effect of children physically hurting one another.
Children daily see hundreds of violent acts on television. Most parents notice the obvious acts of gore and try to avoid those types of shows; however, what parents do not realize is that cartoons contain just as much, if not more, violence per episode. When parents see shows such as “SpongeBob SquarePants,” for example, they seem more comical rather than violent, and do not grab the parents’ attention. However, children are more prone to being frightened by violence due to the fact that they are much more literal than older children and adults (Drinka 1).
Cartoon violence negatively affects children both mentally and physically. According to George Drinka, M.D., violent cartoons even cause sleep disturbance in young children. He states that cartoons go so far as to not just correlate, but cause sleep loss (Drinka 1). In addition, “poor sleep for children is associated with other ill effects like behavioral and emotional problems” (Drinka 2). The graphic violence in cartoons has also been proven to cause aggression. According to “Professor L Rowell Huesmann, a senior research professor at the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, USA,” an increase in exposure to violence can increase aggressive behavior. He, and several others, have all conducted numerous studies on the matter and noticed increased aggression in childr...

... middle of paper ...

...reen out cartoon violence from children's lives, it would greatly benefit them into having safer, healthier lives. Television would thus become more of a place of morals and lessons for young children, rather than a way to simply increase ratings and profits. Cartoon violence may never be completely removed, but it can be restricted for the safety of children.

Works Cited

"Does Cartoon Violence Make Kids More Aggressive?" - School A to Z. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.
Drinka, George, M.D. "Cartoon Violence and Children’s Sleep." PsychologyToday.com. N.p., 19 June 2013. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.
Rutenberg, Jim. "Violence Finds a Niche in Children's Cartoons." The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 Jan. 2001. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.
Xu, Donghuan. "Cartoon Violence Has near Fatal Consequences in the Real World." South China Morning Post. N.p., 27 Aug. 2013. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.

Open Document