New Study About Spongebob and Short Term Attention Problems

Oh, that is just so much baloney. You can't blame a chld's behavior nor short term attention problems on a single cartoon. All my children, from my 19 year old down to my 8 year old have watched Sponge Bob regularly and none of them have bee negatively affected by it. There are probably "better" cartoons out there, but there are certainly worse. Any TV show will give a 4 year old momentary "brain fog" after 9 minutes...TV is mesmerizing to children. You need to have a balance. While my children have all watched a "lot" of television by some people's definition, they are all gifted/honors students with no attention deficit problems.

I hate that show! It's annoying and inappropriate for young children...in my opinion it should not be watched by those not at least a teenager already. I would think that the appeal would pass quickly but that is just me. If a study backs up my thought, then great but either way I don't let my child watch it.

I think the American Academy of Pediatrics is bored and looking to stir the pot.
They said its study found that preschool-aged children " were significantly impaired in executive function immediately after watching just nine minutes of a popular fast-paced television show relative to after watching educational television or drawing.".
What does "significantly impaired in executive function" mean?
That they veg out in front of the TV and have a hard time re engaging the brain for a few minutes afterward?
They've been saying that about tv in general for everyone for about 50 years now.

There's an old song from a long time ago that went something like:
"Television! Television!
I'm a sick from looking on television
It makes me weak in the eyes
Weak in the head, likewise
From sitting and watching on television"

It doesn't look like the AAP has anything new to say about it.

I LOVE Spongeb..... What were we talking about again? Hey! Is that a dog over there?

Ok, so don't have your child watch it....

I love these quotes in this article.. "the cartoon's tolerance themes were really code for gay-agenda promotion."
"allegedly promoting global-warming science."
"People do studies all the time about the effects of media. This one will stress out parents unnecessarily," said an individual close to Nickelodeon.

Here is my deal.. Our daughter watched all sorts of TV (yes, sponge Bob) since she was a toddler. She is creative and extremely intelligent (National Merit Scholar and a dbl major in college).

When she was 2 and was watching Rugrats.. the kids on the show were were lost. I asked my daughter.. "Do you think they are scared?"
Her answer? "Mom it is a cartoon , it is not real.." Yes she was 2 years old.

When our daughter was 4, I was upset with some of the news that was on and was talking to the TV and she said "Mom, you know it is just TV? They cannot hear you."

So for parents that are worried.. Turn it off, or get rid of the TV.. You know your children the best.

This says that fast paced shows cause a temporary lasps, but it does not say that watching spongebob creates attention problems. I think people want to blame tv for everything, along with music and video games, but blame the parents!! All these things are just fine in moderation, just like all things in life, and if your child is using them excessively that is a problem of parenting. My kids will still be welcome to watch their favorite yellow sponge in the morning.

Can you cite the study?

OK--read the article.
Considering that (according to Nickelodeon officials) "Spongebob" is targeted to kids 6-11, but the study focused on 4-year-olds.

This is right up there with some other Spongebob findings, such as the O. in 2005, where James Dobson, head of the Christian Right group Focus on the Family, said the cartoon's tolerance themes were really code for gay-agenda promotion.

Code, I tell ya....CODE!!! For 6-11 year olds. Right.

Spongebob rules! It is what it is and doesn't claim to be educational. No, I don't let my kid watch it all the time, but sometimes. We all enjoy it as a family. I always tell my son that people should be more like Spongebob- always nice to his friends, good-natured, and never judgmental of people that are different.
It's important to note that this study found that ALL fast-paced shows caused the same result in 4 YEAR OLDS. The study was not done on older children- the age range for which the show is actually targeted. Therefore, the results are limited and cannot, and should not be applied to all age ranges. My son has never had any behavioral or problems after watching it. I always take these "studies" with a grain of salt.
And to be honest, I know very few 4 year olds that can have much self control and a lengthy attention span in general.
So, to answer your question- In the mornings, he watches 1 episode of Little Einsteins before school.

This wasn't a study about whether the show SpongeBob is bad for kids. It was a study about the possible effects watching a fast-paced TV show has on children's executive functions (cognitive or thinking skills) immediately after watching. This show was chosen only because the scenes change every 11 seconds, which is faster than other children's shows. This study had nothing to do with the content of the show SpongeBob. Repeat - This study had nothing to do with the content of the show SpongeBob

http://www.parents.com/blogs/red-hot-parenting/2011/09/14...

Maybe I am accustomed to reading to real scientific studies but this was all over the place: Spongebob, Charlie Sheen, Ashton Kucher, Christian rights groups and varying aged kids. I really don't give much merit to this at all and what four year old doesn't zone out after television. My daughter didn't watch televison when getting ready for school either.

.

I've no problem with Spongebob. It isn't bad, just goofy. Spongebob is childish but the main character is kind and helpful. At times, I prefer it to some of the Disney shows.

Goodness gracious OneBoyOneGirl! Family Guy and South Park have never claimed to be for children. They are definitely aimed at a much older demographic.

This study was flawed from the get-go in my opinion.

Spongebob is FUN! Relax. Our kids are okay. You want to worry about something affecting your kids? Read up on something serious like Monsanto.

EDIT: This isn't in response to the OP, but to the folks flipping out about how Spongebob supposedly dumbs kids down.

I smell a large amount of BS with this study. My kids don't watch much tv, but when they do, Spongebob is a favorite! I think it's rather endearing. Their behavior varies, but it's no better or wirse after SB. Now, on those rare occasions where they've been "parked" in front of a tv for hours -yes-they're horribly behaved, but I have a sneaking suspicion that's due to them not getting any exercise or attention for hours. I don't pay attention to many studies like this either. I believe it's more important to tjink for yourself and follow your instincts and to teach your kids to do the same. I'll be sure to cite Spongebob and Patrick as the reason though if they wind up being gay ;-) Sounds kind of silly, doesn't it?

I doubt sponge bob is the culprit, just because this show may be a common factor in lives of children like this it does not mean it causes it. I hate studies like this, i bet those same kids eat grape jelly, i hope grape jelly doesnt get a bad rap.

We used to watch curious george and cat in the hat. PBS, but now i watch the news, we have a neighbor girl over every morning and she keeps my daughter busy and i get to just veg.

I have never let my kids watch that show. I didn't care for it to begin with. I dumped TV a long time ago and my kids seem so be better behaved when it isn't around. So to answer your question, I don't let my kids watch any TV while others are getting ready for school.

Right off the bat, the show is for 6-8 year olds and they studied 4 year olds watching it?? They kind of sunk their study right there.

Well, maybe your own observations should tell you something right there.....

O M G is all I have to say. Sorry. But I don't fall for it. Its just another thing these 'doctors' are trying to make people beleive!!!! My child has watched Spongebob and may other shows for years. It has not affected her learning AT ALL!!! She is actually very smart. And I am not saying this because she is my kid. I have had her doctor AND teachers tell me she is very bright and ahead of where she should be.
This is the problem with the world today. Someone puts out a story, and we just beleive it. Well, I don't fall for it at least.

I have always disliked Spongebob, just the look of him creeps me out, plus I always thought it was strange for adults to have the obsessions they do over him. In the beginning, I thought he was an adult cartoon, like Ren and Stimpy, since adults were showing off their SB gear; even my old boss came to work (about 10 years ago) dressed in SB pajamas for Halloween, granted it was Halloween, but SB pajamas for adults?! Yikes..
Anyway, my daughter (she's almost 4) used to watch him at her old daycare over a year ago, and still likes him. It's a coincidence you post this, because just yesterday in the car, we saw something that reminded her of him, and she said she missed SB and wanted to get him from the library to watch at home. Well, we started our discussion about what SB's "special thing" was, like Spider Man rescues people, Tinker Bell fixes things and spreads fairy dust, those are their "special things". So I asked my daughter, "what is SB's special thing?" She just replied, "um, I don't know.. he talks a lot" Hahahaha, I cracked up, and then just said, "well, that's not very special is it?" She said "no". There you have it, from a 4 year old, Lol.....
I would also say PBS, if you have to do TV in the morning :)

My kids are not allowed to turn on the TV until they are both dressed and ready for school. They can watch while they eat and until they have to go to the bus stop but that is it.

My advice- NO cartoons before school..We don't do any cartoons whatsoever! I have a 1st and 2nd Grader and we go over any vocab.. talk a bit about the weekend or the day before..if anything.. i play kids bop on the Stereo but they wont get ready or do anything productive if the TV is on... and my kids usually have something thrown on the floor...
And I dont wake them up too early.. i wake them up so they can have 10-15min to spare... that way they sleep longer ...

I only have the one, but if we watch tv in the morning, like if she gets up before usual and I need something to keep her busy when I'm getting ready, I turn on Nick Jr. It's usually Little Bill, which is a great show for her. Occasionally I'll pull out a DVD of Max & Ruby.

I saw this as well..rolled my eyes.
There is always going to be one show or another that is going to get "attacked" as being bad for kids or even adults. If it isn't tv shows it is video games, or board games and the list goes on.
As for what my kids watch after they are ready for school and waiting to go the the bus stop that would be the news our local and then a short bit of GMA.
We don't do cartoons in the morning because I would never get them away from the tv.

If they are watching tv, can they get ready for school?

Why don't you put the think here, for the study you read?

How old are your kids?

My son is 9, and for the last 4 years he has watched 25 minutes of Disney Jr. every morning while eating breakfast. These shows are a bit young for him, but nothing objectionable. Handy Manny, Special Agent Oso, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Chuggington. I think Phineas and Ferb would be better, but it's not on at the right time. My son understands the rule of no Spongebob before school because it won't help him get ready to behave well. If he doesn't watch TV during breakfast, he will not sit still long enough to eat(wanders around the house, talks nonstop).
After school, he watches How It's Made, Mythbusters, or other science shows during breaks from homework. I don't want him watching these before school because they're too interesting to want to leave.
He does watch Spongebob, mostly on the weekends. I try to get him to talk to me about what's happening in the show, is he learning anything, why certain things are a bad idea, what the joke is if he doesn't understand it. Today it was one of the characters saying they were going to play a trick at the drive thru "because we're teenagers". So I talked to him about how they're showing that a stereotype of teenagers is that they're annoying- but he doesn't have to act that way when he's a teen!
I wish this study had used other kid's cartoons, especially the "educational" ones. I'd like to know whether the problem is the content of Spongebob or just the 2 stories per 30 minute format of almost all kid's cartoons.

I don't let kids watch anything in the morning. If they are ready first, they can sit and color or do puzzles or a long list of other things. It takes a couple weeks to transition, but I generally find that kids manage time better when a screen is not an option.

I don't care for the show at all...it's really aggressive, crude, and in my opinion, ridiculously stupid. My kids rarely watch tv in the morning, because it takes too long to get them out the door. We're home 2 days a week, and they get to watch some tv on those mornings before we start our day. My son is 4 (almost 5) and he always wants to watch spongebob...but I don't let him because I dislike the show so much. Lately we have been doing shows through Netflix...you can load them through your xbox or wii if you have a Netflix subscription, and they are instant...no DVD needed. You can get a huge variety of kid shows, can pick & choose which episodes you want to watch. And you don't have to just watch whatever happens to be on tv at that moment. My kids love Sid the science kid (PBS show), Cat & the Hat episodes, tons more.

You know it's funny with Spongebob, there is nothing you can put your finger on really but the general attitude is just off for me. I don't mind if my son, who is 4, sees it sometimes but it is not a regular thing. He knows who spongebob is but he gets no steady diet of it. He might see it at a friend's house or something and I don't sweat it, we don't have cable so he never sees it at home, but when we did he saw it ocassionally. Funny thing is he isn't really all that interested in spongebob. My big thing with him is super heroes! I have to limit how much super heroe tv he sees bc he gets so rowdy if he watches too much of it. I have no problem with him loving spiderman etc but when he is re-enacting the Hulk with his baby brother, things get dicey!! I have definitely noticed a difference in his attitude in general when he gets too much TV so I try to make sure he has lots of other outlets for his brain. Of course we have our days where I am tired and trying to get stuff done and the tv is on a bit too much, but nobody's perfect and he is still a great kid ;)

My kids do watch tv (not before school because I'd never get them there on time), but I do not ever put on SB. Mainly because the one time I watched the first 10 minutes of it, I felt completely over-stimulated and my thought was "no wonder so many kids have ADHD"! My kids mostly watch the PBS shows and they are fine with that. They've learned a lot over the years from Word World, Sid the Science Kid, Dinousaur Train, and Sesame Street!

I let my daughter watch Phineas and Ferb from time to time. She gets up and jumps around and dances, too cute!!! I can not stand those "educational" shows they have for kids, like Dora the Explorer, those shows drive me up the wall!!!

What? another study on a favorite kids program?? Remember when they did a study on power rangers and how that program "encouraged" violence??

Let me go and pretend to faint now... don't let your tots and preschoolers watch TV. For the older ones... if they are ADD/ADHD, well you probably already know about it by the time they get into elementary school anyways, TV isn't going to change anything.

I don't let my kids watch tv before school... our time schedule is too tight to allow for distractions. Besides, mine would rather jump on the computer and play minecraft (building and exploring - critical thinking skills and planning skills) then watch TV, lol!

either I have the news on.....or music.

& with my daycare, the kids watch 1 show a day....if that.

We simply don't rely on the tv.

I only put on PBS for my kids if the tv is on.. thats when I am in the shower or cooking. Never was a fan of sponge bob, and somehow all the kids know who he is..

There are a lot of factors that go into creating a generation with short attention spans. Tweet - you have to make your point in 160 characters or less, text - use shortcuts for everything. Everything is available in an instant on the internet and on your phone. Video games are interactive and enthralling. Overall, out society is training our kids to not be able to sit still or stay faocused on any one thing for any length of time. Fast paced cartoon shows may be another example. But Spongebob, itself, is not the anti-PBS. Bugs Bunny was wacky, violent, and crude, as were many of our favorites. This isn't the 1st cartoon to play to little kids love of bathroom humor.

My son (who is 6) LOVES SpongeBob. I used to not have a problem with it, but I'm just plain sick of it along with many other children's shows. I don't see him having any behavior problems or anything. He is allowed to watch it at 7:30 before school. It helps him move. He knows I won't let him watch it before he is dressed, has eaten, and brushed his teeth. I don't think he is any better or worse off for watching it. I suppose he could be spending that 25 minutes coloring or looking at books or something, but I figure that he will be doing constructive things for 7 hours when he goes to school, so whatever. :-)

My 6 year old daughter will sometimes watch PBS in the morning as she is getting ready. My husband and I have never allowed her to watch Spongebob. We did about a year or so ago and we noticed she was using language that she never used before and was acting more aggressive. We attributed it to Spongebob and she hasn't watched it since. Is this study accurate? I kind of doubt it, but it just enforces even more why my daughter isn't allowed to watch Spongebob.

I don't let my 3 year old watch it anymore b/c she started trying to "karate" everyone and she started calling people stupid. I'm fine with the show, I could actually watch it all day long, but sadly, it's impacting her actions, so we nixed it for now.

Well, I have to be honest, and admit I have never seen the show, but it looks asinine to me, from the little clips I have seen, and from what I've read and heard about it. I'm not a fan of potty humor, name calling, or use of the word stupid (out of children's mouths - I do use it myself).

My children don't watch TV in the morning before school. (Actually, they don't watch TV at all.) We listen to music in the morning. I check out CDs from the library to expose them to most of the different types of music. Show tunes, classical, big band, rock and roll, jazz, blues, etc. I highly recommend it. Especially since your child has had a behavior change. I'd lay off the TV for a while.

@Laurie A. - Just curious as to how old your daughter in college is? Sponge Bob came out in 1999, so if she were watching it as a toddler, as you said, that would make her about 14...........

I can't answer for the new tv shows for kids in the morning. But when mine were little I had the new shows on and no cartoons. After a whle it got so they knew that if it was weather they should x clothes or things done and ready to go out the door. There were no arguments about not being ready.

Even though they are grown and gone I still listen to the news in the morning getting ready for work.

It's just what you as a parent want them to do in the morning.

The other S.