CARTOONS
I read something yesterday on Google + that caught my eye. It said:
Me?? Behave?? Seriously!?!?! As a child I saw Tarzan almost naked
Cinderella arrived home after midnight, Pinocchio told lies, Aladdin was a thief,
Batman drove over 200 miles an hour, Snow White lived in a house with 7 men,
Popeye smoked a pipe and had tattoos, Pac man ran around to digital music while eating
pills that enhanced his performance, Shaggy and Scooby were mystery solving hippies
that always had the munchies..
The even crazier thing is, I remember watching all those cartoons and even playing pac man.. :-D
In college, I did a school experiment to see if TV actually effects the way children react or behave. I remember getting into debates with several students who said that music or TV has no effect on the child. As I observed several children watching cartoons I noticed how TV shows and cartoons have an impact on how our children behave during and after they've watched the show. Niko is a big Cars fan. The movie Cars that is. He loves to watch the Red version. If you're wondering what that means we call the first Cars movie the red one and the Cars 2 we call the blue Cars. It made it easier for Mikey and I to distinguish which Cars movie Niko would like to watch. He can watch Cars red all day. He even has tons of cars everywhere here at home, in our pathfinder, at Grandma and Grandpa's, and at Mamaw's house. Niko owns a Cars toddler bed and a Cars potty training seat. He owns several pj's that are of Cars, not just pj's but t-shirts, undies, books and training diapers. Niko, Mommy and Daddy quote the Cars movie and laugh as if it was the first time we heard that line! We had a guy selling a security system for our home over and Niko was watching Cars, the guy mentioned he had never seen that movie before. I find it odd to think there are people out in the world who have never seen the movie Cars. Cuz we've seen it several hundred times a week.. Anyways, while Niko watches his Cars movie or after he's watched his Cars movie he imitates how the Cars crash as they race. In his Niko mind, he's copying the movie and he will make it look just like the movie and he believes the cars that crash will eventually go back to their regular car look. In the movie that might be true but not in real life.. Niko has broken many of his cars imitating the movie, even his new cars that he got on Easter. Yesterday Mikey told him, he was sorry but he could not fix his car. Niko showed me the broken piece to his car, "SHRASH??" he told me it was trash, and sadly put it in the trash can.
Niko is at an age where he is comprehending much more. He is understanding cartoons better and knows how the character is feeling during the show. TV is helpful when I'm busy with my home doings or caring for Nathaniel but TV can also destroy the very innocence of a child, it can alter the way they view the world, their family, themselves and God. I pray we can be wise in showing things to our boys that is age appropriate but also be ready to talk about the shows when questions arise. Will you pray with us?
As the days are getting nicer we'll be doing more outdoor playing and less of that TV watching ;)
