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Here is an essay that I wrote for a journalism course (JOMC
145) entitled Current Issues in Mass Communication
Television programs that are targeted towards children, such as
cartoons, can affect children in both positive and negative ways. I examined a
variety of cartoons on both commercial and public television to observe the content
of children's programming and determine the effects, both positive and negative,
that programs have on children. The cartoons contain a wide variety of subject
matters that can influence children in many different ways. I found that the majority
of cartoons choose to use violence and inappropriate subject matter to entertain
children. These images and stories can have a tremendous negative impact on children
because the violence is rewarded without consequences, is glorified, and idealized.
Children look up to the characters that have a negative impact by distorting their
views on conflict resolution. There are, however, cartoons that contain little
or no violence and often try to incorporate educational lessons that concern values
and morals that are important for children to learn, thus having a positive impact.
"Dragon Ball Z" is an example of a cartoon that has a negative affect
on children because of the use of violence. This particular episode was aired
on Thursday, October 18, 2001 on a public broadcast station in High Point, NC.
The show introduced a group of terrifying monsters that were considered to be
the bad guys. Their bodies were many different sizes and colors and they were
shown in a big, dark dungeon surrounded by lightning. The good guys were a group
of 5 humans who were the main characters. They were seen as heroic and strong
and their main goal was to find and defeat the bad monsters. Both sides plotted
against each other and tried to develop the best and most creative plan to eliminate
their enemy. In a large arena, surrounded by stands full of people, the two groups
fought each other face to face. The judge announced that they "will fight
'til the last one's standing" and they engaged in a brutal battle. Although
there was a victory of good over evil, the violence that is present throughout
this popular cartoon undoubtedly has a negative impact on children. This cartoon
shows that violence and brutality are legitimate ways to solve a problem. The
human characters are glorified and seen as heroes who have performed the amazing
task of killing the enemy. Because of this glorification children are affected
in the fact that they begin to idolize and imitate certain violent characters.
After watching this cartoon, I interviewed two of my male cousins, both of whom
are eight years old. Dillon said that he "liked "Dragon Ball Z"
because the good guys fight with super strength and power and always win."
Brice admitted to liking the violence and fighting because "it's fun to watch
and the good guys always win." These comments show how the violence is entertaining
to children and that they favor characters that win through the use of violence.
Both boys enjoy watching a variety of violent cartoons. There is a direct correlation
between the images of violence that they continuously watch in cartoons and the
desire for violence while playing together and watching television.
The cartoon, "CatDog," has an obviously negative effect on children
because it shows violent acts and emphasizes jealousy, punishment, revenge, and
anger. "CatDog" was created by Peter Hannen and aired on Nickelodeon
on the afternoon of Thursday, October 18, 2001. The main character was a creature
with two heads, a "Cat" and a "Dog." The story began at a
baseball game with a group of "Greaser Dogs" who were cheating their
way into the game. Lou, one of the "Greaser Dogs" got bitten on the
foot by a large, scary looking tick and the "Cat" saved his life by
brutally killing the tick. Lou, now in debt to the "Cat," promised to
serve the "Cat" forever in return for saving his life. This made the
"Dog" jealous and he began to try to annoy, harm, and eventually even
kill Lou. Meanwhile, Lou's "Greaser Friends" plotted to kill the "Cat"
in order to gain back the friendship of Lou. They fought back and forth, throwing
punches, kicks, and even ticks until eventually, the "CatDog" kicked
everyone out of their house and the story ended. The violence that is apparent
in this cartoon has a negative affect on children because they see characters
that are entertaining and funny, fighting against each other and even plotting
to kill each other for revenge and jealousy. Children who watch this are entertained
by the silly characters and unusual story line, yet are simultaneously being shown
images of violence, rage, jealousy, plots, and revenge. This has a negative affect
because children are influenced by the idea that revenge and jealousy are okay.
Some cartoons do not use violence at all but do affect children in a negative
way by using inappropriate content. One example of this is the cartoon entitled
"Doug," which was aired on Saturday morning, October 20, 2001 on Nickelodeon.
This episode began as Doug and his friend played games and started to argue over
toys. Doug got mad and said he was "on strike." He decided to use his
money to take his other friends to "Funkeytown," leaving out one of
the boys. At "Funkeytown" they watched a scary movie. As they left the
movie, a group of bullies, including the boy that was left out, jumped from out
of nowhere, scared the children, stole their candy, picked on them for being scared,
and made them cry. Although there was not any physical violence, the negative
affects are apparent in many ways. Doug did not share with his friend, was unfair
in leaving him out of the trip, and the children are bullied and abused by a group
of bullies who are mean and vengeful. This content has a negative affect on children
because they are witnessing bad treatment, revenge, and selfishness in a humorous
way. Children are negatively affected when they witness bad relationships on television
between cartoon characters that are supposed to be friends. Because of the scary
movie that they watch during the cartoon, the episode deals with scary material
and emphasizes the idea that it is okay to be scared. This has a positive affect
on children because it makes them feel better and less ashamed about being scared.
Only a small number of children's cartoons contain absolutely no violence at all.
"Clifford the Big Red Dog" which aired on the Cartoon Network on Thursday,
October 18, 2001 at 6:00pm, contained no violence or negative content. Clifford,
the enormous dog is portrayed as an extremely sweet character that loved his owner,
Emily Elizabeth, shared his toys and food, and always wanted to play. The cartoon
included a discussion about what it means to be a good friend and how important
it is to have good friends. The episode ends with "Clifford's Big Lesson"
for the day, which was "sharing with friends makes everyone happy."
This cartoon has a positive affect on children because it involves no violence
and includes many lessons that are extremely valuable for children.
"Dragon Tales" is another cartoon that aired on a public broadcast station
on Saturday, October 20, 2001. The content was very positive in that it contained
no violence or inappropriate content. The cartoon began with nice and friendly
dragons playing with kids. They played together peacefully out doors and discussed
a variety of things such as the beauty of trees, the different shapes in leaves,
and other subjects involving nature. They laughed together as they put on colored
glasses that allowed them to see in different colors. The dragons and children
never once got in a fight or argument and all their conversations were pleasant.
This has a positive effect on children because it teaches them to explore their
creativity and appreciate nature. It also is positive in the fact that the characters
all look very different and have a wonderful time together. This teaches children
to accept people with differences and that it is okay to be unique.
In the cartoons that I examined, I found that many cartoons use violence, rage,
anger, revenge, and other awful emotions to deal with personal conflicts among
characters. These cartoons affect children in a negative way because they often
show the good character as a hero or winner with no consequences for violent actions
and also make violence seem humorous and fun. There are also cartoons that contain
no inappropriate conflict. These cartoons influence children in a positive way
by dealing with issues of friendship, sharing, and creativity. Cartoons contain
a wide variety of subject matter and deal with issues of harmful violence and
constructive values and therefore, can affect children in both positive and negative
ways.
Works Cited
Teperman, Jean. "Toxic Lessons What Do Children Learn from Media Violence?"
Children's Advocate newsmagazine. Online. www.4chilren.org/news/1-97toxl.htm.
Accessed October 23, 2001.
American Psychological Association. "Violence on Television.
What Do Children Learn? What Can Parents Do?" APA Online. www.apa.org/publicinfo/violence.html.
Accessed October 23, 2001.
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This page was updated
on November 28, 2001
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This website was created by Kelly
Johnson as part of an assignment for Journalism
050 - Electronic Information Sources.