Are modern cartoons bad for kids?

A SpongeBob Squarepants balloon during last year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.

How much television your child should or shouldn’t watch can cause a lot of hand-wringing, but a new study says to really determine how TV is affecting your kids, get out your stop watch. Researchers at the University of Virginia say faster-paced shows – with numerous scene changes and rapid edits – adversely affect a child's attention span more than the content. Soon to be published in the journal Pediatrics, it is a small study, but some experts are calling the findings "robust." The study authors compared four-year olds who had just watched "SpongeBob," with four year olds who had watched the slower-paced PBS show, "Caillou," and finally a group of children simply asked to draw. They found significant differences in the short-term attentions spans of the three groups, with the “SpongeBob” kids performing the worst. David Bittler, a spokesman for "SpongeBob" broadcaster Nickelodeon, called the study flawed. He said the scale of the study was too small and that the fantastical cartoon is aimed at kids aged 6-11, not four-year olds. Still, a professor of pediatrics says it's not just about Mr. SquarePants. Dimitri Christakis says, "It's overstimulation [from any fast-paced or violent show] that causes the problem." What do your own at-home experiments show? Are your kids affected differently by faster-paced programs compared to an old-school “Mr. Rogers” episode? Why have children's shows – even “Sesame Street” – adopted faster editing and scene changes? Is distraction just a fact of modern times that kids should adapt to? Or does it impair the quality of their thinking?

How much television your child should or shouldn’t watch can cause a lot of hand-wringing, but a new study says to really determine how TV is affecting your kids, get out your stop watch. Researchers at the University of Virginia say faster-paced shows – with numerous scene changes and rapid edits – adversely affect a child's attention span more than the content. Soon to be published in the journal Pediatrics, it is a small study, but some experts are calling the findings "robust." The study authors compared four-year olds who had just watched "SpongeBob," with four year olds who had watched the slower-paced PBS show, "Caillou," and finally a group of children simply asked to draw. They found significant differences in the short-term attentions spans of the three groups, with the “SpongeBob” kids performing the worst. David Bittler, a spokesman for "SpongeBob" broadcaster Nickelodeon, called the study flawed. He said the scale of the study was too small and that the fantastical cartoon is aimed at kids aged 6-11, not four-year olds. Still, a professor of pediatrics says it's not just about Mr. SquarePants. Dimitri Christakis says, "It's overstimulation [from any fast-paced or violent show] that causes the problem." What do your own at-home experiments show? Are your kids affected differently by faster-paced programs compared to an old-school “Mr. Rogers” episode? Why have children's shows – even “Sesame Street” – adopted faster editing and scene changes? Is distraction just a fact of modern times that kids should adapt to? Or does it impair the quality of their thinking?

Guests:

Angeline Lillard, PhD, Professor of Psychology, University of Virginia; Study Co-Author, “The Immediate Impact of Different Types of Television on Young Children’s Executive Function,” Pediatrics, October 2011

Dr. William Carey, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania, teaching developmental-behavioral pediatrics and Senior Physician at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.