Warning: SpongeBob Squarepants Makes Kids Stupid

Theatrical poster of The SpongeBob SquarePants...

Image via Wikipedia

Before you get mad at me for the title and defend the blob of sea sponge, I just wanted to share an article from ABC News. Watching fast-paced cartoons like SpongeBob Squarepants makes kids more impulsive, hinders their abstract thinking skills, and makes them worse at cognitive tasks like counting backwards and solving puzzles. Educational programming from PBS did not have the same effect. So, before you turn on the cartoons for junior this morning, take a second to ponder this study. Are your morning (or afternoon, or evening) cartoons doing more harm than good?

Check it out here:

Watching SpongeBob Squarepants Makes Preschoolers Slower Thinkers, Study Finds: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/watching-spongebob-makes-preschoolers-slower-thinkers-study-finds/story?id=14482447

First of all, I abhor SpongeBob. I dislike the theme. I hate the “stupids” and “shutups” scattered throughout the programming that always end up shouted as insults back and forth between my kids. I can’t see any educational purpose at all for it! We’re not anti-cartoons in the least. We love PBS and Disney cartoons. Sid the Science Kid is one of our favorites because it gets kids thinking! Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Special Agent Oso are popular with the little kids and I love them because they reinforce patterns, shapes, letters, and problem solving. Sesame Street is a longtime favorite. We love movies with some sort of moral and allow age-appropriate video games too. If there’s any way we can combine education AND entertainment, I’m all for that!

I do think that there should be a purpose to tv viewing time. I’m not saying they have to watch history channel or boring documentaries. If, however, they’re going to spend time on the couch and not playing, I want it to at least stimulate their brains a bit. My kids are limited to an hour or so of tv time a day. But, what about kids who watch hours and hours a day? This study says that even a few minutes of fast-paced cartoons like SpongeBob dull their brains. What happens after hours of viewing, day after day?

Here’s an even better idea: Turn off the TV. Don’t take it away completely, but cut back on viewing hours. Get the kids outside and play football or soccer. Play at the playground. Go on a walk or play with friends. If it’s rainy out, get out some board games. Play hide and seek. Read. Play Uno or color matching games. Plan outings to museums, parks, libraries, etc. Read together. Talk together. Bond. Children’s neurons fire off thousands of times a minute. Don’t waste that on pointless programming. Let’s get back to the basics a bit and reconnect (and I don’t mean with technology!). It might be hard at first, but you’ll end up closer than ever.

What do you think about this study? Will it change your kids’ TV viewing habits?

Fast-Paced Cartoons May Hurt Kids’ Attention, Memory (children.webmd.com)
Fast-paced, fantastical television shows may compromise learning, behavior of young children (eurekalert.org)
Why SpongeBob is a bad influence (theglobeandmail.com)

Warning: SpongeBob Squarepants Makes Kids Stupid (homeschoolinghelicoptermama.wordpress.com)

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