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Few people could seriously argue that America is not obsessed with entertainment. Blockbuster favorites yield millions of dollars each year, and advertisers pay thousands to network television stations for seconds of airspace strategically placed throughout popular television shows. From drama to comedy, soap operas to sitcoms, television seems to offer something for everyone-including our kids. Statistics indicate that children watch up to 30 hours of television each week, almost equivalent to the time spent in a full-time job. For younger viewers, one type of program seems to have a special attraction: cartoons. In view of the fact that many children spend so much time viewing these programs, some concerned individuals have raised a very serious question: "Do these cartoons affect my child?" Unfortunately, the answer is yes.

One problem with cartoons is that they do not challenge children's minds. When a child watches television, the screen is doing all of the thinking for him, leaving nothing up to the child's imagination. As a result of this lack of stimulation, only minimal brain activity occurs, thus depriving the child's mind of growth and development. When one considers mental development, cartoons are essentially useless.

A second and more serious problem with cartoons is that they often hinder proper moral development. Unfortunately, too often cartoons display improper behavior, morals, and actions. Many times, the characters in cartoons may yell at each other, telling the other person to "Shut up!" Other times, the cartoon may show hatred and violence, with fighting occurring between the characters. Just as seriously, the characters in cartoons are frequently disrespectful towards parents and other authority figures as well. Clearly, these programs are not promoting or reinforcing the values that most parents teach their children.

As can be expected, the programming that a child watches does affect his behavior. As a teacher who works with young children, I have the opportunity to observe their conduct and to discover what influences their actions. I was amazed to find that almost 90% of the time they misbehave, they are imitating something they saw on TV. In one instance, two young boys in my class were fighting; they were punching, calling each other stupid, and yelling at each other to shut up. After separating them, I asked each boy where he had learned to act the way he did. They both gave me the same response: They saw it on TV. I then asked them where they had learned to fight the way they were, and again, each boy gave the same answer: WWF wrestling. What they had seen on TV affected these boys' behavior.

Although television and cartoons affect children by impeding proper mental and moral development, parents are not helpless against the negative impact of these programs. A simple, 3-part solution exists for this problem.

First, as parents, we must develop the proper perspective concerning our children. Scripture indicates that children are gifts from God, and thus we should regard them as such. Joseph recognized this fact when he said of his two sons, "They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place" (Genesis 48:9). In the same way, God Himself takes the credit for bestowing children when He says, "And I took your father Abraham […] and gave him Isaac" (Joshua 24:3). Certainly, God's gifts are not trivial blessings. Psalm 127:3 says, "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward." Clearly, children are gifts of God, and they are to be cherished as such, not just tolerated.

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