Cartoon attractions

theSun, Tues, 8 June 2010

THIS YEAR, my daughter has cultivated the habit of watching cartoons immediately upon returning from school. She would just plonk herself down on the sofa and grab the remote control after removing her shoes.
In the beginning, I used to chide her for doing that instead of things I considered ‘more important’, such as taking a shower and starting on her homework.

After several failed attempts, I decided this was not a battle worth stressing about. I rationalised that she needed to ‘chill’ after a long day at school.

Her mind probably needed a break from all the ‘serious’ stuff that had been bombarding it from as early as 7.45am till 2.35pm, with only short breaks for recess and lunch.

She is, after all, still a child, only turning eight later this year. As a result, it should be all right that she does not work that hard as yet. As the old saying goes, all work and no play makes Jill a dull girl.

Watching cartoons do actually provide some benefits. And they are not limited to children alone. Some cartoons cater to adults as well.

When adults watch children’s cartoons with them, they can have some fun time together. If the cartoons happen to be the classic evergreen Disney genre that the adults had watched when they were young, they would already know the lessons behind them and can point them out to their children.

We all enjoy cartoons as they make us laugh and laughter is good for the mind and body. As they say, laughter is the best medicine. When you laugh, you produce endorphins that have pain-relieving properties and help strengthen your immunity.

Cartoons can take your mind off work, worries and stress, which has been shown to be a contributing factor to physical illness.

Watching cartoons is not only fun but it is an educational activity for children as well. Cartoons can be used as accompanying tools for teaching valuable lessons, while making learning more fun.

There are role models and heroes to emulate, songs and music to sing and dance along with, and they help children remember educational information more easily. Children can also learn a new language by watching cartoons in different languages.

So what’s not good about watching cartoons?

It’s when we leave our children unsupervised and use cartoons or the television in general as a convenient babysitter or child minder.

For your child to benefit from watching cartoons and other animated movies, you need to help them make the right choices. Watch together with them, if possible, and tell them what’s right or wrong, what’s real or not.

While it is all right for my daughter to re-live her pre-school days by watching Dora or Little Einsteins, it would not be appropriate for her to watch cartoons that contain violence or sexual elements, or those that use swear words freely. These do not teach proper behaviour and values.

Viewing time should also be controlled, lest they go overboard and neglect their studies, homework, exercise, and social interaction times.

Like in most things concerning our children, we need to supervise, monitor, and play a guiding role to develop and nurture their character, morals and values.