Lately kids have been having a big share of the movie industry as more and more tremendous animated movies are being produced, movies that we also can’t resist watching! Special channels just for kids are available at all times , they keep kids busy and away from trouble.

Do animated movies and cartoons, have any effect on kids?

The answer is yes, although parents are glad because the only times they can get some freedom and alone time is when their children are watching TV, but the risks are worth consideration. The more time kids spend watching cartoons, the less time they spend in social interaction.

Kids are so caught up in their addictive cartoons, they stop caring about making friends , having a little chit-chat with their parents or siblings and playing non electronic games, active games such as hide and seek etc.

Studies show that children that watch 3-4 hours of TV a day, have a 30% to 40 % chance of developing attention deficit disorder than children that don’t watch TV!

And the other problem with cartoons is that they are becoming too violent, take Kung Fu Panda for example, it is a very funny movie but look at it closely. How many times does Panda jump, flip, climb, split and twist? If a child attempts to do any of this he will endure serious injuries.

Another problem we are facing nowadays, is the increase of adult cartoons, such as Family Guy and South Park, I personally really enjoy these shows, they are hilarious but again let’s face it, there is a big risk a child might watch them and the abusive things done and the foul language used are intolerable.

In our world today, banning kids from watching TV isn’t a solution, they will always find a way to watch TV but try to limit what they watch and the the amount of time they watch TV, make sure your child watches no more than 2 hours of TV a day, evolve their day with other activities, such as drawing, give them tasks and praise them to make them feel special, all of these will increase their competence.

By Mariam