cartoon violence
A few months ago when visiting a friend, I was disturbed to see her eight-year old sister making one of her Barbie dolls, in her Barbie Ferrari, run over another Barbie. When I asked why she was making her doll hurt the other doll she replied, "Because it's funny. The Coyote gets run over all the time, it's funny." I then explained to her that when cars hit people, many times the get hurt very badly. Before one can understand how harmful cartoon violence can be to children, one must understand how easily children are exposed to cartoon violence. The average child spends twenty-eight hours each week watching television, and fifty-four percent of children have televisions in their bedrooms (Huesmann and Eron 13). These facts alone set the stage for exposure. Also, almost half of all television violence is in cartoons (14). In fact, Saturday morning cartoons alone feature thirty-two acts of violence per hour. Considering that cartoons rarely show the long-term effects of violence and that two-thirds of cartoons portray violence in a humorous way, it is obvious that this cannot be beneficial to America's youth (Kreig 32). Psychological studies consistently prove that cartoon violence is detrimental to children. One study
Kreig, Fred. That's all Folks. The Desensitiza1`tion of Many people are also quick to blame parents for children's reactions to cartoon violence. They say that parents are not spending enough time with their children, and that they are using the TV as an electronic baby-sitter, and that they are not explaining the concept of make-believe to their children. However, studies prove that when there is an adult present who comments on the events of a TV show, children are more likely to imitate what they have seen (19). So, if a child is watching a cartoon with a parent, and the parent tries to discuss the bad portions of the cartoon with him, the parent may just be intensifying the negative effects of cartoon violence. It is obvious that the problem of cartoon violence is out of parents' hands. Kavanaugh, R.D. and R.D. Parke. Imitation of live and
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Approximate Word count = 1027
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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