Watching cartoons and TV in general has become an integral part of childhood, because it is considered a main source of entertainment and learning for children, because of these films and cartoon episodes of dazzling and attractive colors and superheroes whose personalities are characterized by qualities that draw the attention of children and affect them not only on the formation of their opinions, but affect the way they express their thoughts, their attitude with those around them, and the formation of their personality.
Cartoons are a child’s gateway to getting to know the world and satisfying the curiosity characteristic of all children, as they spend their time between school and home
A study conducted by experts at the University of Michigan showed that children from the age of 2 to 5 years watch cartoons for an average of 32 hours per week, while children from 6 to 11 years of age watch 28 hours, and this study also showed that 71% of 8- to 18-year-olds have a separate TV, and 53% of 7- to 12-year-olds watch TV without parental supervision.
The research study from the same university explained that children are more attracted to animation than learning from traditional and academic sources, and the main reason is due to the ideas and scenarios presented by animation that evoke feelings of enthusiasm, courage, but also memorize and imitate the behavior of cartoon characters due to their cognitive abilities.
Children lack the ability to evaluate what they’re watching and they rarely understand whether these cartoons are good enough or have poor artistic value, and they do not know how to judge the actions of the characters.
Cartoons in our time have become very diverse and different, some of them are useful and some are really dangerous, and therefore they are considered a two-sided weapon that can benefit the upbringing of your children and vice versa. One bad cartoon movie can completely change your son’s personality for the worse, and with the great role that animation plays in the life of Our children, it is natural for parents to be fully aware of the positive and negative effects of these films and cartoon programs, and we will list them to you below:
Positive effect:
Cartoons have many positive effects on our children’s personality, behavior, and acquisition of knowledge and skills.
An effective way of learning new things, such as the alphabet, numbers, and colors.
The various stories presented by cartoons, such as historical stories and the biography of the prophets, add more knowledge and connection to children with their religion and identity.
It makes them more understanding of our Islamic history and the history of our country and helps them form a healthy identity that they can rely on in building beliefs later on.
In addition to cartoons that addresses human relationships and the fears that children face at a young age, such as self-confidence or bullying and lack of a sense of belonging, highlighting these problems and solving them helps them positively to overcome these fears
And acquiring the skills that the hero of the cartoon had, such as communication skills and problem-solving skills. These stories are characterized by their ability to improve social relations and strengthen the family bond between parents, children, and siblings.
Some cartoons have great guiding impacts, such as the things that the child must avoid so that they do not fall into the same problem that the hero of the story fell into, or some general etiquette such as the etiquette of personal hygiene and food etiquette,
Last but not least, the development of good qualities such as honesty, cooperation, and courage.
Cartoons also play a key role in improving the language of children, whether Arabic or English, as hearing the correct language at a young age helps to improve it and acquire new vocabulary that he may not hear in his community. It also helps to develop creativity and unleash the imagination, dreams and wishes of children. One cartoon movie may prompt them to start a hobby of drawing, writing, or practicing a particular sport.
The negative effects:
Despite the many positive influences, many films and cartoon series in the recent period tend to add violence and insert traits that are not commensurate with common sense, which affects the mental health of the child and develops him with aggressive tendencies and hateful qualities.
Most of the films shown are produced by foreign companies. The content may not always fit with the values of the Islamic religion, nor the upbringing of Arab families and the traditions of the society on which we were raised.
These traits include acquiring bad words and aggressive speech, lying or anger issues, imitating characters that do not correspond to the religious background of the child, or attracting children’s attention to many things that are incompatible with childhood.
the longer your child watches cartoons, the more he becomes inclined to isolate and stay away from friends which reduces his enthusiasm for engaging in interactive activities that include physical exertion or movement that makes him easily bored, and does not like the idea of reading or studying…..
The influence of cartoons on our kids’ personalities does not end here, but it also has an impact on their health. Constantly staring at the TV screen or tablet greatly weakens the sight. If the cartoon includes interactive movements such as jumping and fighting, the child may practice these actions, which puts his physical well-being at risk.
Watching cartoons for long hours affects the child’s academic level negatively, making him lazier and unorganized about his homework time, and decreasing his ability to focus and pay attention which leads to a failure to perform his duties in the fullest form.
If cartoons are a child’s favorite hobby or his only refuge to enjoy his time, he will turn into a nervous and aggressive person in case the parents try to prevent him or reduce them, and change behavior of irritability and quarrels with the rest of the family all the time.
Here comes the role of the parents, by focusing on the content displayed on the screen and setting a specific time for watching that combines family time and their interdependence with the pleasure of watching a new movie that enriches children’s information and develops their personality, and is very careful not to display any content that may cause negative results in addition to a quick review for the content of the series or cartoon movie before the children to watch it.
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