New Study: Spongebob rots your child's brain

[punisher73]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44460161/ns/health-childrens_health/?GT1=43001

Interesting that more and more research shows that the types of programs popular with young children are "programming" our children's brains to be more attention deficient as they get older.

 

[granfire]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44460161/ns/health-childrens_health/?GT1=43001

Interesting that more and more research shows that the types of programs popular with young children are "programming" our children's brains to be more attention deficient as they get older.

Not exactly news.
Old hat actually.

But I see no solution. Aside from things like, you know, parenting.
I tried to restrict shows like that as much as possible, but the quick amusement, lack of viewer involvement make them very popular, add in the shallow subject matter and humor....and as such also a network's darling. (look at Avatar, the Last Airbender for comparison...half an hour of suspense, a story line that continued through 3 seasons, and if you missed an episode, you missed out! It was Nick's red headed stepchild....the follow up series is already off to the same crappy start...neglecting a host of opportunities...)

Do you blame the media for it, following the mighty buck down to the lowest denominator?

(But actually, I think the constant commercial breaks are worse than stupid content....I can't watch a full length movie anymore without running out of the room many times...15 min 'DING' gotta run...I used to sit through them as a kid...)

 

[punisher73]

I don't know why, but it still surprises me how many "parents" ignore the research about tv programming and digital signals and just plop their kids in front of the TV to do their rearing for them.

 

[Steve]

I don't know why, but it still surprises me how many "parents" ignore the research about tv programming and digital signals and just plop their kids in front of the TV to do their rearing for them.

I don't know if I completely buy it. In addition to the genetic memory inherited from the parents, each kid has a unique personality. My two oldest both watched cartoons. Both play video games. Both watch a lot of youtube and crap that makes my brain hurt. And still, they are both bright kids who do pretty well in school (my daughter is excelling). My son struggles with grades, but for exactly the same reason I did... and my dad did. My belief is that this is all an excuse. We are overstimulated as a society, but it's not just kids. It's everyone, and the answer isn't to keep kids from watching spongebob. It's to teach kids to cope with the overwhelming amount of information with which they are bombarded.

Also, the age group is 4 years old? They're comparing that to Cailou? Really? It's like comparing the Simpsons to the Bubble Guppies. Two completely different target audiences. My oldest didn't enjoy Spongebob until they were around 9 or so. My littlest is 3 and most of that show is over her head.

 

[NSRTKD]

Also, the age group is 4 years old? They're comparing that to Cailou? Really? It's like comparing the Simpsons to the Bubble Guppies. Two completely different target audiences. My oldest didn't enjoy Spongebob until they were around 9 or so. My littlest is 3 and most of that show is over her head.

I honestly think that parents who use programming as a babysitter, or allow kids to sit in a world of video games such as the Nintendo DS where they DONT have to interact at all with their environment are the cause of ADD/ADHD spectrum disorders, rather than the programming itself. It's like saying "Alcohol causes Fetal Alcohol syndrome" - NO it doesn't mothers who drink while pregnant cause fetal alcohol syndrome. Kids can enjoy programming in moderation (or be restricted to watching shows that their parents feel ENHANCE their learning experience) without having damage from it.

But on the note of Caillou, I banned that little kid from my house for several years because of the WHINING. The show doesn't promote behaviors of confidence, because the little kid whines his way through everything and gets what he wants. Not that it rots brains, but that parents need to be conscious of what is good for their specific children and filter their programming accordingly.

Now that my kids are much out of that stage, they get to watch Caillou occasionally. But not all the time!

 

[granfire]

LOL, Caillou....my husband was kidding about having to watch that show (at work). Naturally he got the DVD for Father's day :lol:

But I do see - on myself - how you can get conditioned to a certain behavior: Learned ADHD...Spongebob is actually a 15 minute show...as are most of the popular kid shows today...
However, as a teacher told me, if the kid can concentrate for prolonged times, like on video games, they don't really have ADHD...just ants in their pants...let's face it...TV is not attention garnering anymore...it's a background noise these days.

 

[MA-Caver]

The real simple solution to it is unplug the damned tv and kick the kids outside to play (in the yard or at the park).
Warner Brothers cartoons (Bugs, Daffy, Porky, et al) were fine when I was growing up (but now as I look at them today... still funny but that violence is something that never seems to be addressed), but I probably spent all told maybe 2 hours a day on tv. :idunno: It's like how they (used to) blame rock and roll for suicides or drug use or sexual promiscuity or any other of a host of other evils that parents want to blame on for how their kids turn out, so that the blame doesn't shift to them. A child is a responsibility no matter how they cut it and a big one at that. Can't handle it, get tubes tied or a vasectomy. Got one accidentally (unplanned) then deal with it. Love it, care for it and raise it with the best values you have. Don't let tv, music, games, computers and shrinks tell your kids how they should behave.

 

[Steve]

I agree that parents are the key here. I also agree that kids need to play outside. It's about balance and teaching kids good habits. However, I also think that the key isn't to try and limit the amount of data to which kids are exposed. That's futile. Instead, I think we'll have a lot more success if we try to teach kids how to manage the data. We teach kids algebra at 11 years old now. My three year old can surf the net. It's amazing and inspiring how quickly our kids are learning things. But we're failing (as a society) to teach them how to relax.

Honestly, my opinion is that we aren't teaching them because we don't know. The rate at which we've exploded into the information age is astounding. Where we are now vs when I met my wife 18 or so years ago is completely different. I believe that our kids' generation is the one that will figure it out and they'll teach us how to cope with all this information. Not the other way around. They're blazing the trail.

Just my two cents.

Don't let tv, music, games, computers and shrinks tell your kids how they should behave.

This I agree with. Just do your best. No such thing as a perfect parent. Fortunately, kids in general are amazingly resilient. And no matter how bad or how good of a job we think we're doing, they're likely going to end up a lot like us.

 

[Carol]

I agree that parents are the key here. I also agree that kids need to play outside. It's about balance and teaching kids good habits. However, I also think that the key isn't to try and limit the amount of data to which kids are exposed. That's futile. Instead, I think we'll have a lot more success if we try to teach kids how to manage the data. We teach kids algebra at 11 years old now. My three year old can surf the net. It's amazing and inspiring how quickly our kids are learning things. But we're failing (as a society) to teach them how to relax.

Honestly, my opinion is that we aren't teaching them because we don't know. The rate at which we've exploded into the information age is astounding. Where we are now vs when I met my wife 18 or so years ago is completely different. I believe that our kids' generation is the one that will figure it out and they'll teach us how to cope with all this information. Not the other way around. They're blazing the trail.

Just my two cents.

This I agree with. Just do your best. No such thing as a perfect parent. Fortunately, kids in general are amazingly resilient. And no matter how bad or how good of a job we think we're doing, they're likely going to end up a lot like us.

Kids? Go outside?? That's dangerous, ya know.

When you were a kid, did you "disappear" (as my mom would call it) alone or with the neighborhood kids for hours at a time? Playing, exploring, running around, going out with the bikes? I did...often to my parents' chagrin. I think parents are less likely to allow this today due to awareness of the dangers kids can face.

Parks and Rec departments are facing slashed budgets. Schools are cutting enrichment programs such as art, music, and phys ed. This is resulting in fewer opportunities for kids to be active. One of the parks where my family and I would go to when I was a kid was closed by the state. Others don't look the same as they did when I was younger....perhaps because the towns have to be more conscientious of liability insurance and the like.

Many families are getting tapped out from the demands of keeping food on the table and a roof over their heads. I think this is leading to people doing less things such as eating together as a family, or even going outside with your kids to rough-house or toss a frisbee around or pitch a whiffle ball. There also has been a trend away from recreation activities that people do together as a family. When I was younger, my dad would take me skiing at small, low-cost or no-cost ski areas. My folks sent me to the larger mountains as a treat, or for formal lessons. Now -- even in a place like New Hampshire -- many family oriented ski areas have closed permanently, others are struggling.

I think this is a very complex problem, with many facets and no easy solution.

 

[joshbrown]

I don't get it.

If watching SpongeBob can negatively affect a kid's attention span, then how is it that most kids I know can sit through four straight episodes at full attention? And then ask for more?

 

[NSRTKD]

The issue is not whether or not they can sit thru spongebob, but rather whether they can sit through a family dinner, or a storybook, or to draw an entire drawing without seeking extra stimulation.Then again, stories and family dinners and drawing are unknown to a lot of families these days. Parents get disappointed when their kids can't pay attention in school or function socially, when they haven't encouraged those behaviors themselves because they have let their kids sit through four straight episodes of spongebob where the stimulation changes every six seconds.

 

[MA-Caver]

The issue is not whether or not they can sit thru spongebob, but rather whether they can sit through a family dinner, or a storybook, or to draw an entire drawing without seeking extra stimulation.Then again, stories and family dinners and drawing are unknown to a lot of families these days. Parents get disappointed when their kids can't pay attention in school or function socially, when they haven't encouraged those behaviors themselves because they have let their kids sit through four straight episodes of spongebob where the stimulation changes every six seconds.

Yeah it's almost akin to Pavlov's bell test. Watch enough of something and the mind is conditioned to the rapid changes of stimulation offered not only by the program itself but by the commercials which can be very loud, in your face and rapid fire imagery and oft times about 5-7 of them before returning to the show... then show the same commercials again and again. So is it any wonder that kids don't have the patience to sit through a single class on a singular subject on a regularly paced school day?

 

[JohnEdward]

What a bunch horse hockey! PBS is and has been losing viewers ever since Seame Street got PC on the cookie monster. Sponge Bob, is far better than Scooby Do, Speed Racer, Howdy Doody, take your pick. TV always has been mindless entertainment, look at what has happened to the Discovery, A&E, and the History Channels. Roomer room, and Seame Street has made generations of super smart kids, who all grew up geniuses because of it. It is PBS trash talking their competition. Sponge Bob has morals and ethics. Isn't that a value?

 

[granfire]

What a bunch horse hockey! PBS is and has been losing viewers ever since Seame Street got PC on the cookie monster. Sponge Bob, is far better than Scooby Do, Speed Racer, Howdy Doody, take your pick. TV always has been mindless entertainment, look at what has happened to the Discovery, A&E, and the History Channels. Roomer room, and Seame Street has made generations of super smart kids, who all grew up geniuses because of it. It is PBS trash talking their competition. Sponge Bob has morals and ethics. Isn't that a value?

Sadly PBS has canceled a lot of the good quiet shows in favor of some hideous colorful garbage....

 

[granfire]

The issue is not whether or not they can sit thru spongebob, but rather whether they can sit through a family dinner, or a storybook, or to draw an entire drawing without seeking extra stimulation.Then again, stories and family dinners and drawing are unknown to a lot of families these days. Parents get disappointed when their kids can't pay attention in school or function socially, when they haven't encouraged those behaviors themselves because they have let their kids sit through four straight episodes of spongebob where the stimulation changes every six seconds.

I am guilty of not being able to sit through dinner anymore....

Off to find a solution....

 

[Steve]

What a bunch horse hockey! PBS is and has been losing viewers ever since Seame Street got PC on the cookie monster. Sponge Bob, is far better than Scooby Do, Speed Racer, Howdy Doody, take your pick. TV always has been mindless entertainment, look at what has happened to the Discovery, A&E, and the History Channels. Roomer room, and Seame Street has made generations of super smart kids, who all grew up geniuses because of it. It is PBS trash talking their competition. Sponge Bob has morals and ethics. Isn't that a value?

What do you mean, "PC on the cookie monster?" I watch Sesame Street with my 3 year old and haven't seen him look any different than ever.

 

[granfire]

What do you mean, "PC on the cookie monster?" I watch Sesame Street with my 3 year old and haven't seen him look any different than ever.

You have been away too long from Sesame Street: Cookies are no longer the monster's sole diet. It's now a 'sometimes food'

 

[Jenna]

Provided they are not excessively consumed or used as naomisarah suggests, as a babysitter, I do not believe these shows rot a child's mind or hinder development. Nevertheless, I do not see there is much to assist development either.

I locked off all the animated channels when mine was younger when I felt it was a time of day when his brain should have been focussed.

I did not mind him though watching Nick or Cartoon Network for a little while at a time when his mind could go into sleep mode after homework or on weekend mornings. I did watch that programming with a mixture of bemusement and confusion I have to say. I always thought these shows were bubble gum for the brain. I never felt the same about children's drama with like, um, real people n stuff. I always thought "manned" shows were beneficial and had some thought and youthful moral to them. A reflection of my age and squareness I guess. Just like Spongebob.

 

[JohnEdward]

Allot has changed on SS that is for sure, now there is and was talk of Bert and Ernie getting married. Maybe it isn't PBS alone behind the killing off of SB. I think behind the vail is no other than SS, it's self. After what 40 years on the air it has turned into a monster.

 

[granfire]

Allot has changed on SS that is for sure, now there is and was talk of Bert and Ernie getting married. Maybe it isn't PBS alone behind the killing off of SB. I think behind the vail is no other than SS, it's self. After what 40 years on the air it has turned into a monster.

But hey, Katy Perry is too adult to play dressup with Elmo....