The Influence Of Cartoon Cartoons

Do you remember those early Saturday mornings getting up and rushing to the living room just to watch kid friendly cartoons? Remember those times where the character was saying something but then your parents or older siblings just started laughing out of nowhere? Some people think that children's cartoons are fun and harmless, but some contain inappropriate and dangerous hidden content.

Most cartoon animations are separated by the rating because of the type of content the show contains. To begin with, there are studies that show that no matter the rating or how kid-friendly the show is, there are instant sparks of inappropriate content. Beau explains the issue:

Just because a movie is rated "G" doesn't mean there won't be violence or scenes with alcohol, tobacco or drugs. A recent study by the Harvard School of Public Health screened 74 animated, G-rated kids' movies and found at least one act of violence per film. And nearly 60 percent of the movies had characters using tobacco or alcohol, says the study's author, Kim Thompson, an associate professor at Harvard School of Public Health.

It seems as if that the rating of movies never directly illustrates the appocontent. It also shows that even in “G” rated movies violence and smoking are portrayed in the film. This allows children to think that this type of character is appropriate. “ Abbey W., 13, of Orland Park, Ill., also has noticed plenty of violence in cartoon movies. Last summer, she was a member of the children's jury for the Chicago International Children's Film Festival.” ‘"I definitely think as time goes on, more and more violence appears in films for younger children," she says.”’. Regardless of what rated movie it is the general violence in each film increases over the years. This could be potentially a menacing dilemma in the near future for children the age of 12 and