Psychological Impact of Cartoon Show on Children ( 11 years old and below )

Our world is changing and many scientific inventions are made. One of these is the cartoon shows on television. According to Hetherington, Janet,(2008),cartoons are set of regularly presented animated programs. Some children find these cartoon shows as fun and enjoyable. On the other hand, there are psychological effects of cartoons on childrens brain and emotion (Hossler, Stevie; http://www.ukessays.com) and also a sudden change in the behaviour (Effects of Childrens Psychological Pattern, http;//ukessays.com). Nowadays, we find so many kids who change a lot in their behaviour and that is because of watching cartoons on television , may it be bad or good behavioural change in children. Furthermore, the middle childhood are the ones who are very affected by these behaviour and emotion.. The middle childhood is a stage of development between ages 6-12 years old. And they usually begin to form self-concepts (Middle Childhood, http://apa .org). In addition, children of this stage are the ones who are always watching cartoons in television and the more they are addicted to it, the more they are prone to psychological effects. In this stage also, children form impressions easily (Effects of Cartoons, http://neelwritesthis blog.com). It is because their minds are still developing and so they can easily acquire information and might imitate them.

The issues in effects on cartoons on children are, it limits childrens time for vital activities and they become aggressive towards others (Hossler, Stevie; Psychological Effects, http://neelwrites.com). Children at this stage usually spend their time watching cartoons rather than reading books, learning to talk with other people, participating in exercise activities.

Therefore, their physical, mental, and social skills will not develop more because of these issues. Furthermore, their minds are still in developing stage so they will just imitate the actions made by the characters in the cartoon show, may it be bad or good for them. If they will apply it to other people, they might do aggressive and harmful actions.

These influences of cartoons on children can be made in a good way if the parents and elders will work on it. They should make their kids realize that fantasy things have no true value and they have to choose cartoons which could have positive impacts on their kids (Cartoons Effects, http://www.apa .org). In addition, parents and elders need to watch their childrens activities so that they can correct it.

The objectives of this paper are to explore the beneficial and harmful effects and also to identify on how to promote healthy use of watching cartoon shows on television (Wikox, Ben; Impacts of Media, http://www.ukessays.com). It is very important to know all about these to solve the issues in the psychological pattern of a middle childhood.

Children nowadays have become much more interested in cartoons over many years. Children begin watching cartoons on television as an early age of 3 years old. This become a problem because cartoon shows have become violent and addictive ( John smith & Kenny Bill, 2001 )

One of the best example cartoon show is Tom and Jerry by the network cartoon, a network channel As cited in linked or cartoon org (01,12,2013) found that Tom and Jerry

cartoons has a lot of violence.

According to ( Clarksim Absy 2005 ) Tom and Jerry show promotes (1) Violent Act (2) The images displayed affects childs brain ( Tomy, Fink 2001 ). (3) Show false sense of reality ( Bert, Brown 2009 ), (4) It gives, self- endangering behaviours ( Andy Mckee 2011 )

Clarksim added that because children watch the show Tom and Jerry, they see Violent Act, materials that is not appropriate for their age group. Tom and Jerry is a very addictive Cartoon.

As cited in www.Etabcartoon.net.org. There are four major psychological effects in the cartoon show Tom and Jerry, (1) Child become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of other, (2) Do not fear violence, (3) less sensitive of pain and suffering (4) Being aggressive or harmful ways. The following image shows how violently Tom and Jerry show is ( Refer to figure 1 for its appearance ) ( Http//:www.tank.net.org )

On the other hand it shows violent scene ( Tomson, Beldz, 2004 ) like (1) Hitting (2) Killing one another (3) Jumping high without being harmed (4) Shooting, In this case its very dangerous for children to watch this kind of act.

This cartoon show also affect children cognitive development ( Clarksim, Borges 2007 ), Its memory ability is slow because of the fast- paced show, Tom and Jerry is execute, fast show compare to other cartoon show that is shown paced.

Aside that mental ability of a child is being affected. It also gives health problem, (http.www.belgitool.com) like (1) Eye injuries, or eye fatigue (2) Mental and Emotional Problem along with brain (3) Being overweight or obesity ( Berkling, spring 2001 )

In over all cartoon shows like Tom and Jerry negative impact and parent should be more responsible enough to guide their children, especially at their young age. As what Clarksim said Nature is a big difference in Nurture. So parents should be aware of cartoon shows these days.

Cartoon show is one of the reasons of the changing attitudes of children. Viewing such types of television program creates psychological impacts toward children. These impacts are categorized as mental, behavioral, and emotional. The mental effects of cartoons on children includes the "increase of their imaginative faculty" (Cartoons, Effects; www.scribd.com) and the "improvement of child's literacy" (Cartoons, uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com). In other words, cartoon shows help children make creative mental pictures of people, places, things, events or ideas. In

other way, it serves as an aid in improving their ability in learning and discovering new things. Thus this creates a positive impression to parents. However, according to Bryson's article, cartoons can "impare the child's executive function" (New Study, kidstvmovies.com). In this case, cartoons greatly affects the children's health as well as their performance in school. The development of their brain's system may be hindered causing it to lower it functionality in terms of mental skills. As a result, they cannot do good in school.

In the same way, cartoons, too, have behavioral effects on children. On the positive side, cartoon shows "influence children to be kind and considerate" (Cartoons, Effects; www.scribd.com). Furthermore, it "improve child's social awareness" (Cartoons,

uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com). Under certain circumstances, children were also able to extract good values from watching television, specifically, cartoons. It also helps children to be conscious of what is happening around them and in the society. In contrast, cartoons "encourages risky and aggressive behaviour" (Cartoons, uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com). Children who view this type of program exhibits unfavorable and unpleasing manner or conduct. They perform activities that are risky, since they imitate the things that they have seen on television. Not only it encourages such behavior but it also "develops false seense of reality" (Cartoons, Effects; www.bgsu.edu). They were not able to tell between what reality is and what is shown in cartoon shows. This increases their risk to injury (Ybarra B.)

On the other hand, cartoon shows, also, have emotional effects on children. Because of watching cartoon programs, children "feel more comfortable and confident" ( Cartoon, Positive Effects, www.en4all.proboards.com). It also "help reduce their anxiety" (Preidt, Robert,

Cartoons, Anxiety, www.gulfboard.org). Thus, watching cartoons allows them to relax and provides pleasurable effects. On the negative side, children became "less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others" (Cartoons, Negative Effects, www.nizarkhashaba.com). Another thing is that, they "neither fear violence nor are they bothered by violence" ( Cartoons, Negative Impact, www.dawn.com). They are already used to the different violent actions that are projected on TV. That's why they became hard and insensitive on the feelings of others. Altogether, these are only few of the many impacts that cartoon shows bring to children.

It would seem that cartoon shows could contribute on the psychological viewpoint of children, especially those who are in the middle childhood stage, since they are the main target of this kind of film. As an outcome, they were greatly influenced in their thinking, behavior and emotion, either of which can be beneficial or harmful.

REFERENCES
-Hetgering, Janet

-Thomas, Bob; Wiki.com -Hossler, stevie; apa.org -Http//www.elkessays.com -www.apd.org, childhood -effets of cartoons; neelwritingthisblog.com -Hossler, Stevie, www.reelwrites.com -www.Wikipidea.com -Cartoons, www.apa.org - Wikox, Ben,www.ukeyssays.com - John Smith 2000, www. Pekto. Com - Tomy Fink, 2001, www. Karze.net

- Bert Brown 2009, www. Scitacartoon.net - Andy Mckee, www. Zerbi.com - Tom Son, Beldz, 2004, www. Organsched.com
-www.tancarton.com, Kenny Kotz

- Petro Kalsm, 2001,www. Bgsu.ed.com - Eduardo Solis, 2004, www.yabtonic.com - Plabter, Fin 2003, www.gloxton.com -Effects of Cartoon, http://www.scribd.com -Are Cartoons a bad influence on children?, http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com -Bryson, Carey. New Study: shows like Spongebob square pants could be bad for kids brain, -http://kidstvmovies.com -Spongebob hinders kids minds quickly: Study, http://cbsnews.com -Effects of cartoons on Children, http://www.bgsu.edu -Positive Effects of Cartoons on children, http://www.en4all.proboards.com -Preidt, Robert. Cartoons May ease anxiety for kids, http://www.gulfboard.org -Negative Effects of Cartoons Violence on Childrens behaviour,

http://www.nizarkhashaba.blogspot.com -Negative impacts of Cartoons, http://www.dawn.com