Study: SpongeBob SquarePants "bad for kids?"

[deoxys121]

The latest study finds that watching just nine minutes of the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants can cause short-term attention and learning problems in 4-year-olds.

Source

I saw this just now on the news. Apparently, a study was conducted that showed that SpongeBob was shown to cause short-term attention and learning problems in children compared to children who watched educational children's programs, such as Dora the Explorer. The justification was that SpongeBob is more fast-paced, constantly switching frames, and is intended strictly for entertainment purposes.

Nickelodeon argued several things: SpongeBob is intended for children ages 6 and up, whereas the study was conducted with 4-year-olds. Also, when it comes to being educational, the programs generally are at the same time boring, whereas SpongeBob is fun.

I personally have been watching SpongeBob since it premiered. It is an excellent children's program, and feel that this study should not change the minds of parents of the children who watch it.

What are your opinions on this study? Discuss! If you want to search for a more detailed article, feel free.

 

[Sydian]

Parents whine over the littlest things. Maybe, because I am not a parent, I don't understand. But either way, the experiment probably was conducted wrong since they used the wrong age group, but you know, just because SpongeBob is intended for 6yrs+ doesn't mean it'll stop a kid younger than that from watching. My cousin is 3 and she watches SpongeBob, so yeah. Anyway though, it's up to parents' discretion as to what they want to allow their kids to watch. If I were a parent though, my kid probably wouldn't be watching SpongeBob, because I have plans to raise my child on Sesame Street and Blues Clues because those are the greatest shows ever.

Edit: Just wanna acknowledge what Zet said below, that they used newer episodes. The older ones were good, the newer ones...well, I have another cousin that's not allowed to watch SpongeBob because it's just...yeah, it's just not like it used to be. We'll leave it there.

 

[Zet]

I read this the other day, and the test was done on 4 year olds when spongebob is for 6 - 11 year olds. Plus they were only showing the new episodes and not the old ones.

Also TV in general can cause attention problems, it doesn't even matter what sort of show it is. They could have showed a show of paint drying and it could cause attention problems.

 

[Cura]

Posso vedere dove questo proviene. ( I can see where this is going... )

My aunt is a teacher and she forbids Spongebob in any shape, way, nor form. She just hates him and her son is punished if caught watching it. Heck, I was watching the TV at my grandmother's and she came, took the remote and change it saying that, she didn't want me watching it. Ehh, go figure.

 

[Kenshin5]

The justification was that SpongeBob is more fast-paced, constantly switching frames, and is intended strictly for educational purposes.
.

I thought most child shows have a bit of fast and go from one scene to the next in a short period of time. I don't know the "child" shows out there now a days, but when I was a kid I just watched whatever and didn't have an issue. And some young children may find though educational shows somewhat entertaining. Or instead of having the parents letting the TV educate their young child maybe they should take the incentive and be proactive about it and educate them their self instead of having the TV be the baby sitter.

If they want fast frames have them watch Robot Chicken since it changes frames I'd say at least every 30 seconds. No scratch that they should definitely watch Metalocalypse for educational purposes forget Blues Clues, Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer.

 

[Sydian]

If they want fast frames have them watch Robot Chicken since it changes frames I'd say at least every 30 seconds. No scratch that they should definitely watch Metalocalypse for educational purposes forget Blues Clues, Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer.

EVERY CHILD NEEDS SESAME STREET OMG LEAVE.

My aunt is a teacher and she forbids Spongebob in any shape, way, nor form. She just hates him and her son is punished if caught watching it. Heck, I was watching the TV at my grandmother's and she came, took the remote and change it saying that, she didn't want me watching it. Ehh, go figure.

And you're how old? That's funny though. lol

I thought most child shows have a bit of fast and go from one scene to the next in a short period of time. I don't know the "child" shows out there now a days, but when I was a kid I just watched whatever and didn't have an issue. And some young children may find though educational shows somewhat entertaining. Or instead of having the parents letting the TV educate their young child maybe they should take the incentive and be proactive about it and educate them their self instead of having the TV be the baby sitter.

I agree with this. Wouldn't have this problem if parents would take kids away from the tv in the first place. And actually, I find children's educational shows entertaining. :( When I went to my aunt's for tutoring, my cousin would be watching them and they were soooo distracting and Blue's Clues came on so I texted my mom to tell her because I felt all nostalgic and I wanted to watch it and stuff but yeah math. :( Anyway, educational tv isn't going to teach everything, and regular tv sure isn't either. So do your kid a favor and actually get involved in their learning.

 

[aruchan]

Spongebob is awesome. I grew up on cartoons and I don't have attention def...


Wait, what were we talking about? Sorry, I was thinking about something else.

 

[Her]

Blues Clues

blues clues is perfect how dare you include blues clues in this thread it must not be tainted

I think this study is just rubbish. Since when was there any doubt that Spongebob was for entertainment purposes? Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall being made to teach children about Spanish, unlike Dora the Explorer. Spongebob is just a childish show (the older episodes at least, the newer ones scare me a bit tbh) directed at children, simple at that.

 

[Cura]

And you're how old? That's funny though. lol

I'm eighteen years old, amico. But, yeah... that happened to me. I honestly don't see why parents are so against the show. Sure, they censor out words in a comical tone, for example. When something goes wrong, Spongebob will say something along the line, "Oh, barnacles." or something related to that. However, this is still used as a censor for something else. Though, they're episodes of the show that don't make sense at times, where other episodes do. But, regardless... it's still a kids show and there is no harm in or to it.

I thought most child shows have a bit of fast and go from one scene to the next in a short period of time. I don't know the "child" shows out there now a days, but when I was a kid I just watched whatever and didn't have an issue. And some young children may find though educational shows somewhat entertaining. Or instead of having the parents letting the TV educate their young child maybe they should take the incentive and be proactive about it and educate them their self instead of having the TV be the baby sitter.

I agree with this comment, as well. Most TV shows, like Bob the Builder, Blue's Clues and such are showing young children values in many fields. From math, spelling and grammar to social skills, friendships and more. However, upon further observation of many shows from my youth, TV broadcasting has taken a major turn downhill surprisingly these days and that's why I rarely watch TV anymore. I find either boring, pointless or it's just out there in mid-field. It's sorta sad in a way. Where did common value TV shows and broadcasting go? Ugh, good thing we have YouTube... to a point.

 

[funrush]

I personally don't know what the problem with watching SpongeBob is, I've been watching it since it's premiered and still watch the new ones occasionally. I actually had a friend a long time ago who wasn't allowed to watch SpongeBob because his parents deemed SpongeBob "homosexual".

 

[marcc5m]

Are you kidding? My brother is four. He still can't talk and a lot of the time when he is spoken to, he ignores it. And he watches Spongebob literally all the time...

 

[Yoshikkko]

I agree that the program is hyperactive and that it can influence young kids, but I think it didn't need a study to come to that conclusion. When Spongebob first premièred where I live, my mom just didn't want me to watch it for too long, for the same reasons I couldn't watch The Mask for too long. I think it's television series in general, and not just Spongebob Squarepants.

 

[Melody]

It's not Spongebob that's degrading IQ. It's nothing like that. Children naturally have short attention spans, and that's something that I believe is something people are refusing to accept. Why do you think the more lively children end up getting labeled as ADHD and end up being drugged into submission? :/

To be honest it's not TV or anything that's causing problems...children develop based upon what they're exposed to, and we shouldn't be stopping that considering the way the world is constantly developing and evolving to allow things such as constant communication and such which is more easily harnessed by those with short attention spans and such. Somehow I believe the whole overall shrinking of attention spans of everyone IS BECAUSE we've got so much information to take in. We really shouldn't be crying wolf just yet...it's not yet conclusive that it's even remotely detrimental.

 

[The Taco Lord]

Oh, how I love Spongebob...


I saw this too. I heard the word Bob on the news and i freaked out. Turns out it was Spongebob. It doesn't affect me at all in school or whatever(although The Sword does). And Spongebob isn't supposed to be educational (although the one about boat smarts is) its supposed to be funny. And, 4-year olds??? What the heck?!?!

 

[Dr. McNinja]

Now, I'm going to say for one, being only twelve years old, I have watched spongebob and Dora the Explorer, both excellent shows, I will say.

Now, it is hard to fathom why Parents and Scientists continue to rant about Television causing short attention spans or learning difficulties. Now, Television hardly causes any of this, trust me, i grew up on these television programs, and, not to be egotistical, am very intelligent, I have a high understanding of philosophy and ethics, and am very good at most subjects. I say most, because I seem to struggle a maths slightly, I'm in the second to top class, there are 9 classes.

You could say that I do have a short attention span, but short attention spans don't mean that your academic progress will halt, see, there are three types of learning types, the ones that learn from listening, the ones that learn from doing, and the one that learn from both, now, I've forgotten the scientific words for these, but, yeah.

Besides, what 4 year old doesn't have a short attention span?

 

[TRIFORCE89]

SpongeBob was very popular within college circles a few years back. lol Maybe, it's not meant for kids?

Really, it's not an educational show. It's not a public-television kind of show. It's now a "mommy and me" kind of show. It is a show aimed at kids, but let's not try to make it something it's not. It's purely entertainment.

I believe the kids got to pick what they wanted to watch. I would assume, that those who enjoy an educational show more than an entertainment show and picked to watch it, would obviously fare better.

 

[Guest123_x1]

While this study will very well be used by politicians and media regulators to further regulate children's television programming (on cable networks, besides, over-the-air children's programming (which is a separate subject) is already regulated to death, due mostly to the war on obesity), the study results mentioned in this topic are inconclusive as, like Nickelodeon stated, the show is meant for older children, and attention spans of young children, especially at age 4 and younger, are usually very short anyway.

 

[Khall]

lol wow.

Personally I wouldn't give two cares if Spongebob was finally cancelled.

But this study and its "conclusion" is very ignorant.

 

[BareBones]

I don't think Spongebob Squarpants is a harmful cartoon. Four year olds naturally have short attention spans and learning difficulties are becoming more and more common, to my knowledge.

I agree that this study should not make parents shy away from showing their children programs designed purely for entertainment purposes. My childhood was filled with shows that had no educational benefit and I have never struggled with education. That said, my attention span is quite short and I'm prone to daydreaming and doodling instead of listening. Though I believe this to be more closely related to my passion for fantasy games and novels - if I immerse myself in fantasy when I get home I expect I'll do it when I'm in college too.

However, they have failed to consider the different learning types. If you are a kinetic learner it is quite likely you will not be able to pay attention to a lecture, and so forth.
I don't believe attention span is very relevant to how intelligent you grow to become because, as I have said, my attention span is alarmingly short but I am above average in most subjects.

EDIT: For your amusement purposes, and to prove my point, I will admit it took me around twenty minutes to complete and post this message because I became distracted by Tumblr.

 

[pastelspectre]

Honestly I find this study inaccurate. I mean, sure Spongebob can say some jokes that littler kids won't get, but the show isn't intended to be for children, or educational. It's just for pure entertainment. It's not the same as before, the older episodes are better in my opinion, but honestly the show is jsut for entertainment. Not for educational reasons.

Also whoever said Blues Clues is bad, NO MAN NO I LOVE THAT SHOW, FREAKING LOVE IT. Don't be go dissing my show man. XD