Do cartoon characters may influence impressionable kids?
You can see my attack on Winnie the Pooh. But others I have doubts. In the "The Simpsons" I see several negative ones, even when I am laughing at their predicaments. I don't like much "Family Guy" but seen little of it. [I dislike the "baby" with British accent. He seems a psychopat] And others. Remember as a kid having a teacher criticizing us for watching the old "Popeye the Sailor" cartoons for its violence. But at least he taught us to defend ourselves from arrogant bullies like Bluto. What do you think?
Simpsons and Family Guy seem to be directed to more mature audience, anyway.
And Stewie isn’t psycho, he’s megalomaniac.
Of course it could. Good or bad, it can. — I remember in 1978-79 kids from 5 to early teens of 12 years old watched Voltes V in the Philippines. A story of how the robot Voltes V fought invasion of evil aliens and fought oppression. It tackled topics about freedom, love of one’s native land & family. The kids loved the show even if it was the first time they saw somebody died in a cartoon (it wasn’t called anime yet) and saw blood from a cartoon character. Kids were off the street at 6pm because they were watching the show, how the Voltes Team fought the invading Boazanian Empire. (Even college students and young urban professionals watched it then.)— Then, suddenly, the Dictator Ferdinand Marcos cancelled the show! The children looked for it in all channels and waited for it to be aired, but failed. — If those kids were only old enough at that time, they would’ve kicked Marcos out of the Philippines at that moment. — Those kids have never forgotten it, and in 1986, they "volted" together like what the Voltes team did and defeated the evil Boazanian Empire they saw in the government of Marcos.— There could be influences in children, that is why parental guidance is needed to pre- and early-school kids while watching cartoons. Gotta go.
Yet another question imposed about cartoons and television as a whole. There are usually no problems with violence and media on television until you see a kid acting out the stuff he sees on it. Parents and/or guardians don’t sit their kids down and tell them that this is fantasy. Instead, they sit their kids in front of the television or computer and tell them that this is worthwhile entertainment. They let the television/computer be the babysitter while they take care of housework or other things. Now would this win them parent of the year? Not in your wildest imagination. This just proves to extend the actions of self-righteous PTA mothers who wish to censor everything and anything out there.
In a world where there’s such terrible acts of hate everyday, people need a release. With videogames and cartoons, they can find a somewhat diversion from their everyday routine. However, you can’t say or do anything without offending someone. In so creating these videogames/cartoons, people fly off the chains with insane accusations like these things create murderers and social deviants. In some cases, it gives them ideas on which to perform their acts but in all, you can’t stretch it that far. Violence and murderers aren’t bred from television and the alike but from their surroundings (ie mother and father actions or their own mental standing).
Social deviants are born from actions of people, not imaginary situations. You can’t point fingers at television, society or some other item when someone in this society points a gun at some guy. You have to accept the truth where it lies. Some people just can’t help themselves. Their mental capabilities are not developed enough to know or gauge right from wrong.
There’s another argument that can be bred from this. If violence and the alike from cartoons, videogames, etc aren’t to blame for kids being as they are, is this stuff desensitizing them to violence as a whole? The answer to that varies on how the kid was brought up. In most parts, the answer is no but depending on if there’s family in the military at this point, that could very well be a yes. Cartoons and media don’t make kids apathetic towards violence. Again, that lies within the field of the parents. If they don’t like what they see, turn it off. Don’t write a 500 page essay why it should be banned thinking it’s going to save the future. Instead, take the blame and move on. Try to help the kid grow as a person and not point the blame elsewhere. Society is indeed a big part of a kid’s future but what you teach them is an even bigger part. Help mold a child’s mind, instead of destroying it. Cradle creativity, don’t squash it. If you can do this, your child has a hope. If you can’t, you have to question whether or not you’re really capable of being a parent.