Are New-Age Cartoons Teaching Kids Violence
Cartoons have been around since time immemorial and it’s a part of every person’s childhood. Who can ever forget weekends of waking up early just to be able to catch your favorite cartoons on TV. But, there’s been a rising concern among millennial parents that the cartoons their kids watch may have lots of violent content and these violent cartoons are causing dis-ease among parenting groups.
While it may be true that some form of violence was present in older, pioneer cartoons, the cartoons available for children right now are even more aggressive than the ones that we are used to. Even blood and gore are not censored and are displayed prominently in lots of cartoons available through multiple media channels. Let’s delve into this further to see why these new-age cartoons are the reason behind kids picking up their violent ways.
5 reasons that tells you if New-Age cartoons are violent for your kids
#1 Cartoons Are Normalizing Violence
The presence of violence in almost all cartoons that are showing onscreen right now can only give kids the impression that violence is an acceptable part of human culture and it’s okay for them to practice it as they view it on television. The only way we can combat this is either to deprive them of their violent cartoons or to sit with them through these cartoon break and teach them that the violent cartoons that they are viewing are merely for entertainment and is not acceptable behavior in the real world.
#2 Makes Violence Look Like Fun
Often times, cartoons are able to make violent content look like loads of fun, especially when the characters display their contentment on carrying out such violence, for example, in cartoons such as Happy Tree Friends, Adventure Time or even Nickelodeon’s very own Invader Zim. In these cartoons, lots of the violent scenes are made to look as if the characters have a good time when doing what they do. Again, as parents, we should keep a close eye and remind our kids that these are just for entertainment and is no way related to how we do things in real-life.
#3 Makes Them Insensitive To The Pain Of Others
Watching violent content on a weekly or even daily basis can cause kids to be immune to the pain of others. This is because the characters that they watch onscreen never seem to feel even a tad bit affected by the pain that they inflict onto the next person. And over the course of time, your children learn it and it becomes a part of their character. As they move on to more social settings outside the home, like school or playgrounds, they may tend to react in the same manner and even enjoy the pain of others.
#4 Entertainment The Suffering of Others
As mentioned earlier, the insensitivity to the pain experienced by others can become somewhat of an enjoyment, as they continue to watch characters and cartoons that they like inflict pain on others and show no remorse or sadness in relation to it. Sooner or later, this may develop into a habit of causing pain to others, merely for personal pleasure and in their adult life, they may go into abusive or more violent tendencies.
#5 Aggressive Behavior Is Their First Choice
When watching such hostile and forceful actions portrayed on television, through a string of violent cartoons, your child’s first reaction to anything that causes them discomfort may be to react aggressively, like throw a tantrum, throw things, even yell and hit out at people. This can be sorted out quite easily by taking away what is causing the aggressiveness in the first place and being firm with them when it comes to respect and decent behavior, whether it’s in the house or outside.
To be honest, it’s not possible to take away the violent content that is on television or to shelter our kids completely from them. But, what we can do is allow them to see two sides of the coin and make them choose what is right from wrong. And sometimes, it may not just be an issue of the violent cartoons or shows that they watch, it could be the people they hang out with.
Disclaimer:
The above is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute a legal advice or specific recommendations in any way.
