'Spongebob' bad for kids?

The Common Room Other Animation
#1

starpulse.com/news/index.php … d_for_kids

Thoughts?

#2

I’m not sure what to think about this. There were some bad messages torwards kids in some episodes like the “panty raid” or the one episode with the sea horse where the one guy tries to figure out where the coin slot is. It really depends on the parent if they want their kids to watch Spongebob or not.

#3

Well, this is of course what was so brilliant about vintage Nicktoons: kids watched them, but there was plenty of stuff thrown in that adults would enjoy but maybe wasn’t appropriate for kids. However, the article that I linked to was about Spongebob affecting the development of kids, not a matter of content.

#4

Hmm… I doubt it. I watched Spongebob when I was younger, and got good grades for my GCSEs and A-Levels. Also, the research seems shaky to me, and it doesn’t sound like it properly accounted for other factors (such as enviroment, upbringing etc.) Isn’t 9 minutes slightly shorter than the length of a Spongebob episode? I thought they were 11 minutes long?

Any idea what the PBS shows were?

#5

I didn’t read the article, but I’d definitely agree that some of the new seasons of Spongebob are downright disgusting. Ren and Stimpy was vulgar and gross, but that was the entire point of the show almost, and the smart writing and tension built made kids enjoy it, even sitting through the gross stuff. Now I know kids like gross stuff sometimes, but the approach Spongebob takes with it is immature. I’d rather not have kids watch it at all.

#6

I believe Calliou was one of them, but don’t quote me on that.

#7

If it’s true, I can’t believe why they would consider Caillou inappropriate for children.

#8

This seems very unofficial and unproffessional to me. I personally don’t think Spongebob is good for kids at all anymore(or anyone), but this research is not accurate. Watching a show does not make you dumb.

#9

While I highly doubt the validity of this study (9 minutes would not cause extreme, long lasting effects) I think that the current seasons of Spongebob are bad for kids in that its a horrible, disgusting, violent and obnoxiously loud cartoon with unlikable characters. I still love the classic episodes but I would not want a child watching it the way it is now. When I have kids, I’m making sure they get some quality cartoons, with plenty Disney movies, MLP:FIM and DCAU shoved in their faces. :sunglasses:

#10

Geez, people overreact today. I remember watching Looney Tunes as a child. Explosions, violence, alcohol, smoking, sexual refernces. And I turned out fine!

#11

Exactly! Things like this is one of the reasons why I get so annoyed by people today! :unamused: If parents would actually be PARENTS to their children, watching things like Spongebob, old Looney Tunes shorts or playing violent games like Gand Theft Auto wouldn’t be a problem!

#12

I agree. These kinds of parents always overreact to these types of things. I mean, it isn’t any different to what we grew up with, so what’s so bad about a new generation watching it?

#13

The people who did this study are probably from the planet Camazotz.

I’m not even a particular fan of SpongeBob, but some people apparently are, and not everything has to be “good for you.” Some things can just be for fun, and it’s entirely possible for a kid to enjoy SpongeBob and PBS.

Also, there was one gag from the show I particularly liked, in which the inside of SpongeBob’s mind is represented as a newspaper office staffed by multiple SpongeBobs.

SpongeBob Editor: You’re fired!

SpongeBob Reporter: You can’t fire me! This isn’t even a real newspaper. It’s just a metaphor for the abstract process of thought.

Seems like a pretty smart gag to me.

And doesn’t it matter which nine minutes of either show that they showed them?

I used to watch a cartoon called Animaniacs. Sometimes it was just mindless cartoon slapstick. Sometimes it was witty and clever. And sometimes, they even taught you something. To this day, I know all the U.S. Presidents because of Animaniacs, and it got me extra credit on a college history exam.

#14

Okay…

  1. the study was done on 4 year olds. That’s way outside of the show’s demographic. WAY outside.
  2. There’s no control group, the sample isn’t very large or diverse enough to qualify as an accurate representation of every cartoon-watching child out there, and the ‘PBS programming’ they showed to the second group of children doesn’t exactly specify which show they were watching.

As a kid from the 90’s, I grew up watching a creepy pink eyeball-wielding monster, an equally creepy girl who kept a freaky shrine dedicated to her secret crush, a cat somehow genetically connected to a dog, beavers who would often bash each other up and countless other weird and crazy shows.
If we managed to make our way through these shows and come out the other side as completely normal people, I highly doubt Spongebob will be affecting the next generation that severly.