By Mateo Ratzan Ramires
Cartoons: Present vs. Past
Cartoons are fascinating animated TV shows which most children all around the world watch as they grow up. Even though most people think they’re just a waste of time, cartoons actually help a child’s ability to control their time and others. For example, I remember trying my best to finish my homework as fast and correct as I could in order to get permission to turn on the TV and watch my favorite show: Pokémon. Cartoons have apparently changed over time. I was in a state of shock when I realized this, because back then, at least in my country, we could watch Flapjack, Chowder, Power Puff Girls, Mucha Lucha, Thundercats, Courage, Samurai Jack, and many others. Now those cartoons were substituted with other newer ones.
When I asked my younger siblings about old cartoons, they responded with confused expressions:
“What are you talking about? The only one we have seen is Pokémon,” they said.
Here is where I felt ignorant because I had not noticed that old cartoons weren’t being aired anymore, and that instead of the old ones, new cartoons emerged. Astonished at the fact that children now watch different cartoons, I created a survey asking them about what cartoons they watch and if they had ever watched an old cartoon. Not only that but because of some parents saying cartoons are a waste of time, I included a question in the survey asking children on whether cartoons teach them something useful or not.
I conducted a survey to find which cartoons children watch in the present and if they had ever watched an old cartoon. Here are the results of my questionnaire composed of five questions answered by twenty-five kids:
2) Do you watch cartoons? If so, list all the cartoons that you watch.
3) Have you ever seen Power Puff Girls, Chowder, Mucha Lucha, Samurai Jack or Flapjack?
4) What are your personal morals? (Unfortunately, I could not graph these answers.)
5) Do you think the cartoons you have watched have influenced your way of thinking and your personal morals? If so, in what way?
Most parents believe cartoons are a waste of time. While conducting my survey, I found some intriguing facts about cartoons. With every kid that I surveyed, I found out that cartoons are both dangerous and helpful. If a child, spends at least one hour watching cartoons, there is a high chance that they will learn something unconsciously. Cartoons somehow influence children’s way of thinking and/or personal moral values. On one hand, some cartoons teach children how to behave around people and the value of friendship and family. On the other hand, cartoons can sometimes be really graphic which will overtime, cause the children to categorize “IT” as normal due to the continuous repetition of bloody scenes.
As I gathered my data on whether cartoons were helpful or not, I found something about myself. As a child I watched Pokémon, Power Puff Girls, and Samurai Jack. I unconsciously learned about the value of friendship in Pokémon and the value of family in Power Puff Girls. But in Samurai Jack, I only learned how fascinating and awesome was the blood. The passion for blood later on developed into an urge to help out people with injuries and become a doctor. I guess my obsession for blood only turned out as a desire to become a doctor because I was guided correctly by my parents and because I felt pity for how many people were dying each day in my country from being murder or from not having treated their sickness or injuries on time. By the way, just because I find blood fascinating it doesn’t mean that I’m a cannibal or a vampire, but nevertheless I could have probably turned into one of them if I was not guided correctly. I might have ended up becoming cannibal or a guy who murder people and sheds blood for fun, but no, I will become a doctor.