Criteria D

Most cartoons shown on television are quite violent and the issue remains of how these cartoons alter the view of reality to the children who watch them. The issue extends when objects that are dangerous for kids to use such as knifes or guns are used in such a way to appear harmless in cartoons. One example commonly used is that when a gun or rifle is fired, the person does not get shot instead he/she would be covered in smoke from the gun, so what is a child, by any means, got a gun in his hand and shot it, a case like that would not be blamed on the child if he harmed another person as from his point of view, would only shoot black smoke. But again, in today’s world, cartoons could be said to be one of the main sources of entertainment for children and a huge business for companies, but they still continue to alter the reality for children. This issue can be solved by changing the types of shows used and the times displayed. For example, a channel could be programmed to show a real life educational program for kids after displaying an animated cartoon and repeat the process by showing different shows. This is helpful to keep the children aware of reality and educate them at the same time. This solution is feasible but, personally, I have not seen it done on any channel. Even though some channels offer both types of shows, they are both clustered separately into different times, so by changing the times of when the programs are on air, this could cause a great improvement on the psychological effect and behavior on children.