The Impact of Cartoon Network on Children’s Academic Performance
CHAPTER ONE
Objectives of the study
The general objective of this research is to investigate the impact of animated cartoons on children in Enugu between the ages of seven and eleven years.
The specific objectives are to:
- Identify the animated cartoons programmes available on television to children in Nigeria.
- Assess the viewing patterns of these animated cartoons in relation to time, duration, place, preference and days.
- Understand the perception and views held by children in relation to how they rate their popular animated cartoons as “good” or “bad” from what they see and why.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Effects of Cartoons on Children
According to Hossler (1970: 78) for years children have become really interested in cartoons and cartoons have become a primary action for some lives. Children usually start watching cartoons on television at a tender age of six months and when they turn two or three they become enthusiastic viewers. Such trend has become a challenge as too many children are watching too much television and the programmes (even if they are cartoons) have become not only violent but also addictive. In the United States, marketing of cartoons has become overpowering and as such has the subliminal messaging. Children are the targets of the marketing and it aims at making them watched cartoons on a regular basis. However, the subliminal messaging is aimed at adults to make them enjoy the cartoons. This is unfortunate in that when children watch the cartoons they see things that are not appropriate for their age. Children who watch too much cartoons are more likely to suffer mental and emotions problems as well as brain and eye injuries and unexpectedly the risk of a physical problem increases.
Mental and Psychological Effects of Cartoons on Children
Troppe (1984) postulated that from the time children start school to when they graduate they are averaged to have spent about 15,000 hours in school. Unless compared to the hours a child watches television, which is nearly 20, 000 hours, this may appear like very unpleasant lots of hours to attend school. The comparison is outrageous in that the amount of television that children watch will have effects on their brains, emotions as well as their sense to feel pain. The United States Surgeon General, David Satcher, in a 2000 report on adolescents’ violence said more aggressive behaviour in a young child’s life is caused by regularly watched entertainment that have violent content. Consequently, according to Hossler (2004), the American Psychological Association (APA) issued a resolution in February 1985 keeping broadcasters and the public informed about the dangers of violence on television on children.
Hossler (2004) claimed that psychological studies have found three major effects of violence on children. First, children who are exposed to violence may become less sensitive to pain and sufferings of other people. Secondly, children who watch violent cartoons are not afraid of violence or bothered by violence as a whole, and they are more likely to become aggressive or inflict harm on others. When born, we have the capacity for motivation, experience and training; consequently, our minds are very impressionable. As a result, our brains’ development is a dynamic blend of nature and nurture, and so it is essential to choose a healthy environment for all children. Consequently, cartoons with violent content will not be healthy for a child because generally, being interactive with any environment enhances the development of a successful brain. Therefore, a huge amount of childhood involvement with electronic media can limit social interaction and may disturb the development of a brain’s social systems.
Increased Risk of Child Safety
According to Ybarra (1970:79), recently, in a number of children’s cartoons you will see characters jumping, diving and falling from very high heights and then landing without being harmed. As long as these cartoons do not promote sex or any kind of violence parents appear happy with this. However, are these cartoon types really all right for children? In all episodes of Loony Tunes, you will possibly spot a short clip of Wile E Coyote trying to catch the Road Runner. Similarly, in every clip of Wile E Coyote in some shape or form appears to fall off a cliff or just have one of his inventions backfire and cause a massive explosion. Nevertheless, he manages to collect his teeth, clean himself and get up attempting to catch the Road Runner. Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd are other examples of these kinds of cartoons. In Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, it appears all the time rabbit hunting season and Elmer Fudd can never appear to shoot that dangerous rabbit. Bugs usually find a means to bend the gun to aim at Elmer or plug it up with some kind of object, when he tries. Nevertheless, either way the guns always fire into Elmer’s face.
These kinds of cartoons display false sense of reality on children. Being able to fall off a cliff or being shot in the face with a gun and walking without a scratch from these incidents raises eyebrow. With regard to their age, such false sense of reality can affect children greatly. It has been found that, averagely, children watch four hours of television every day. Moreover, as a result of this false sense of reality “for every hour of television watched in a day, the risk of injury rose by roughly 34 percent in children surveyed”. Children look up to and want to be like the super heroes in cartoons. That explains why the false sense of reality in cartoons may encourage children to emulate things that their favourite super heroes do.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter focuses on research design, population of the study, scope of the study, sources of data collection, instrument for data collection, method of data collection, method of data analysis
Research Design
A research design is a plan or blueprint which specifies how data relating to a given problem should be collected and analyzed (Nworgu, 2006). The research design adopted for this study is the cross sectional survey design. A cross sectional survey design allows for the use of a section of the study area to generate information that will be representative of the total population.
Area of the study
Enugu East is a Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Nkwo Nike. It has an area of 383 km² and a postal code of the area is 400.
Population of the Study
The study was carried out in Enugu east, it is the capital of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in southeastern Nigeria. The city had a population of 279,089 according to the 2006 Nigerian census.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
Introduction
This chapter presents and analyses the findings of the study carried out to investigate the impact of animated cartoons on children. The study population was made up of selected urban children in the 7-11 age brackets within Enugu. A total of 450 self-administered questionnaires were distributed to respondents. All the 450 questionnaires administered were returned. Twenty-four (24) of these were either incorrectly answered or had over 25% missing data. They were thus discarded and not used for analysis because some questions were related to others and there was need for consistency in responding to the questions. A total of 426 questionnaires, 94.7% of the total questionnaires, were analyzed. This was an excellent return rate going by Babbie’s (1990) assertion that a 50% response rate or more is adequate for data analysis. The data from the questionnaires were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) .
Demographic Characteristics
Gender of Respondents
Table 4.1 below shows that the respondents were 52.6% male and 47.2% female, an indicator of almost equal distribution in terms of gender. The research had proposed an equal distribution in terms of gender, so as to give both sexes an equal chance of being selected. It was also done to make cross-tabulations with regard to gender and cartoon preference possible, since it was assumed that different sexes might exhibit different tastes and preferences in animated cartoon programs.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter is a summary of findings; it attempts to link the main research question, the theoretical framework, literature review and results.
Summary
- The study confirmed that animated cartoons do not reflect the realities of the environment that children in Enugu grow up in.
- The cartoons are conceived, developed and produced with Euro-American views. Those who import the cartoons and the parents who allow their children to watch the cartoons do not always take the trouble to find out whether or not the contents are relevant to Nigerian audience.
- Up to this point in time, no institution or individual produces animated cartoons that may be socially and culturally relevant to children in Enugu.
The impact of these [Euro-American] attitudes, perceptions and constructions on children in Nigeria who watch these animated cartoon productions is evident from the way they relate to Ben 10 and Kim Possible. These relations maybe imperceptible to the casual observer but data showed that the two cartoon characters are idols, image ideals and role models to children who watch animated cartoons in Enugu yet both these characters are not representative of the children they interact with everyday. This is because Ben 10 and Kim Possible are ideal Euro- American white and might give the children the impression that black children cannot be heroes since they are not portrayed in these animated cartoons.
Children in this study like Ben 10 and Kim because they represent power, control and are heroic in outlook. This researcher feels that these constructions are a possible reason why Nigeria children are prone to adoring white characters. If these two heroes were black and representative of children their age and in their environment, it could have as implication in how they see themselves. The data showed that children in the study spend a lot of time watching these programmes therefore it is prudent to ask what perceptions and attitudes are being reinforced, and the implication of this on how they construct their wordier and self-worth
Conclusions
The theories of middle childhood development stage namely; cognitive theory, social learning theory, social cognitive theory, operant conditioning theory and moral development theory have shown that during this stage the child’s mind is still developing and the idea of how the world works come from experiences, attitudes and behaviours that are in their environment. Television makes up part of this environment. Animated cartoon programmes on television transmit experiences, attitudes and behaviours that children model or pattern their behaviour after. The data research weighed the selection of animated cartoons available to children in Nigeria; the fact that none of them is produced locally, the content and the fact that they form the bulk of daily television programming for children in Nigeria as the underpinning questions of analysis- Since the children under and subjects of the study were in the 7 to 11 age group, the theories reflected under the formed one basis of framework.
Recent studies also show that there is a more complex interaction between media and society. The media generates a scheme of relationships and influences that flow between it and the individual who in turn analyses both the information provided and the information contained outside the text. Idle consequences and ramifications of the mass media relate not merely to the way newsworthy events arc perceived but also to a multitude of cultural influences that operate through the media. Children also form part of society therefore the overall effects of media on society cumulatively has an effect on them. The research therefore also used the following theories of how mass media affect audiences; cultivation theory, individual difference theory, uses and gratification approach and reception analysis.
Recommendations
The study put forward the following recommendations
- Guidelines should be developed for children on how much animated cartoons he/she can watch; the less the better. Keep television out of a child’s bedroom. The best place is the family room. Watch animated cartoons together and talk about what your child sees on the animated cartoons.
- Parents should not assume that all animated cartoons are harmless. The subtext of messages in animated cartoons dealing with sexuality and romance are ignored and unacknowledged by critics and parents. They should be considered because animated cartoons have become an institution through which society brings up children and use to teach values.
Parents must develop the proper perspective concerning their children. Scripture indicates that children are gifts from God, and should be regarded by parents as such. They are to be cherished not tolerated. “Bring them up in the nature and admonition of the Lord.”
References
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- Gökçearslan (2010) studied the Effect of Cartoon Movies on Children’s Gender Development: Procedia – Social and Behavioral SciencesVolume 2, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 5202–5207