Parents raise concerns on influence of cartoon videos on children

Some parents in Abuja on Sunday raised concern over the negative influence and effects of cartoon videos on their children.

The parents, in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said watching cartoon programmes had significant effect on behaviour of children.

They said that the impact were both negative and positive, adding that majority of the children behave copy the behaviours they see on the programmes.

Mrs Amaka Ezukwuoke, a house wife in Kubwa, said that her kids had neglected their studies and house chores due to cartoons on Television and they most times hallucinate.

“My child shouts in her sleep after watching some cartoon videos. They often think what they watch is real so they try to practicalise it at home.

”This makes it harmful and I do not see some of these cartoons to be educational.

“Whenever my kids are watching cartoons, they forget about every other thing which is very disturbing.

”They spend more time on cartoons than they do on reading, even when I send them on errands, they get upset because of the cartoon.

”I am trying to cut down the time they spend on cartoons,’’ Ezukwuoke said.

Mrs Justina Oluwa, a resident of Apo, said that cartoons now promote sexual contents like lesbianism and homosexuality which could be detrimental to the kids.

“I was shocked when I watched one of these cartoons with my kids and saw two girls in a relationship and my kids were so focused on the cartoon.

”I immediately turned off the channel and told them never to watch that cartoon again,” she said.

Oluwa said that she took it upon herself to always monitor the type of cartoon her children watch and warn them against learning such acts that do not praise God.

“I advise parents to always watch these cartoons with their kids to know what they watch.

”Most of these cartoon contents are what these white people are trying to promote in our country and it must be stopped before it gets out of hand,’’ she said.

Mrs Veronica Abel, a resident of Bwari, said that she tries as much as she could to monitor the cartoon her kids watch, to ensure it’s educational.

“My kids love watching this particular cartoon and it is very educational and entertaining.

”I have also come to like it because of how educational it is. I advise parents to not see cartoons as just cartoons because there are lots of negative things kids pick up from watching these cartoons.

“Also, some cartoons have effects on kids as they will start learning certain bad things that they are not supposed to know at their young age.

”When such happens it can be dangerous to the child’s upbringing,’’ Abel said.

Mr Ochiaka Uche, a teacher, said that cartoons have both positive and negative influence on children.

Uche said that a cartoon could be used to teach a child how to speak decently, control their temperament,  listen to their parents and work in a group without hating or being jealous of their friends.

According to him, cartoon content can teach a kid some positive skills like how to be a leader, think about acting, analyze problems, manage risk and even make a kid love sports.

”At the same time, a cartoon can be much more dangerous than any other experience a child may have seen before.

”It may contain contents that would confuse them. May contain instructions contrary to parental guidance.

”A wrong cartoon can cause a child to have different unwanted views on their parents, friends and teachers,” he said. (NAN)