Cartoons: A Double-Edged Sword?

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Our children live in a world based on fantasy in a medium that most people have access to. This medium does not require complex skills to get information, which is why cartoons have become a double-edged sword. We know that cartoons are directed to children and therefore should have a positive influence on them, but this varies according to the programming and control of parents over their children. Most kids are pulled into the world of television long before they even enter school. In 2009, in an article written by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), reported that every kid in America under the age of 6 watches an average of about 2 hours of screen media a day, primarily TV (1495-1946). Although cartoons are considered an entertainment that gives children a chance to have burst in laugh; it can also cause a series of problems in the development of a child that can be detrimental for the foundation of a human being.

Background

Cartoons are cinematic techniques that make static elements such as puppets or objects, which move by themselves, seem real. The Oxford Dictionary of word Origins defines the term cartoon as: lovers of art will know that cartoons were not originally meant to be funny. They were originally full-size drawings made on paper as a design for a painting, fresco, or tapestry. The word seems to have become attached to cartoons in the modern sense in the 19th century, with the first record of its use coming from the magazine Punch in 1843. The word was applied to animated films in the early years of the 20th century.

There are cartoons for all ages, from infants to elderly. “In 1937, the Walt Disney Studios released its first fully animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and pioneered ...

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Walt Disney Animation Studios. Disney. 1 Dec. 2011. http://www.disneyanimation.com/aboutus/history.html

"Watching SpongeBob SquarePants can cause short-term attention and learning problems [ET Cetera]. " The Economic Times (Online) 15 Sep. 2011. ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry. ProQuest. Web. 23 Nov. 2011.

Zoglin, Richard and Tynan, William. “Is TV Ruining Our Children?” Times Magazine 15 Oct. 1990: 1-3.

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