Cartoons might be hurting more than helping

Should children be able to watch cartoons? Most of the time kids sit and watch cartoons so of course it is going to affect how they act. Therefore, most parents monitor what kids watch. Certain cartoons are meant for adults, not children. 

If children watch these it is said they will have anxiety and negative behavior. Those are just some of the effects that cartoons can have. 

They also have good behavior traits like making people laugh. Laughing is shown to reduce stress. Stress is something that most people think kids do not experience. I mean they play and have fun. 

So why would a child experience stress? 

They still get stressed when they get told no or they frustrated when they don’t understand things. Kids use cartoons to balance out their moods and get attached to the characters. 

Cartoons help them learn things. I cannot say for every family, but I know in mine we use cartoons like “Cocomelon” or “Baby Bum” to help my nephew learn numbers and the ABC’s. 

When he is throwing a fit and needs to calm down, “Tayo the Little Bus” is the only thing that calms him down. Well, that and Grandma. 

Adult cartoons help adults too. They may not need to know how to count again but they can always use a good laugh. Cartoons help many people whether it be by helping them laugh or learn. However, like I mentioned before there are negative side effects. 

If a child just sits in front of a TV their behavior is going to be affected. Children used to be outside getting sun and wearing themselves out. Now they sit in front of a TV and go numb to what is going on. 

It is even worse because there are so many channels that play cartoons non-stop, or streaming services that are specifically designed for kids. 

Disney+ is one of these services. Even Netflix has a kid’s channel that has all the cartoons and baby shows they could ever need. This would not be as bad except science says kids or adults who spend more than four hours in front of the TV are more likely to be overweight. 

Not only that, if a child sees a violent act in a cartoon, they may think it is OK and start acting negatively. It is also a problem because if a child sees a violent or scary act on TV. They may believe the world is scary. Not only may they see the world as scary, but some cartoons also show reinforced gender-roles and racist stereotypes. 

These are not things most parents hope to show their children, but it just happens. 

The worst problem is they get addicted. Cartoons or TV become their soother. Parents let them eat while watching TV. This is because most parents think it is easier to feed their child this way. 

What they need to know is that it is fueling addiction.