Cartoons: bad influence on children

Science Adina Camarasu
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‘Peppa Pig’ and other cartoons woke up one day with an unexpected charge: that they would harm children.

Thousands of parents asked themselves, horrified: ‘Peppa Pig … a bad influence?’

The commotion caused among parents from various countries led Karen Phillip, the psychotherapist who cited this cartoon series, to defend herself in a video posted on the internet.

‘I never mentioned the program ‘Peppa Pig’, I meant the excessive use of screens’, noted the Spanish daily El Pais.

Karen Phillip accused cartoons of hindering the development of children’s imagination.

The little ones lose their ability to create games, concepts and ideas because they are too used to find entertainment in an external source.

And she gave an example from ‘Peppa Pig’ show. But, the author of the study mentioned that the situation is different when parents watch cartoons together with their children, ‘singing, dancing and interacting with them.’

So, a cartoon series such as ‘Peppa Pig’ is great for children only if they watch the episodes accompanied by their parents.

But, could cartoons affect the development of our children?

Giuseppe Iandolo, psychologist and doctor of Psychological Development, Learning and Education, send a reassuring message.

His informative statement was based on results of a clinical research performed by scientist Albert Bandura. He is an outstanding Stanford professor and the author of the social learning theory.

The cartoons provide development opportunities. For example, the educational ones can help developing language and narrative skills or the ability to solve problems and difficulties following models.

However, this does not exempt parents from supervision, but on the contrary.

In general, Giuseppe Iandolo does not recommend prohibition or other radical measures.

The fact of not allowing a child to watch cartoons is considered harmful and could deprive them of an educational opportunity.

According to him, the best solution is to ‘reduce the time and type of cartoons.

Also, parents should make room for other activities, like playing or socializing with other children. These are all fundamental to child development.