Influence of Mothers/Grandmothers Coviewing Cartoons With Children on Children’s Viewing Experience

Abstract

Watching cartoons is one important event in children's early lives. This activity is highly influential on many factors, such as children's cognitive and behavioral development. Some researchers believe that parents should coview cartoons with children to help them filter and distinguish useful content. However, intergenerational education is already common in China, and the influence of grandparents cannot be ignored. Because they are in different stages of life, the members of these two generations manifest great differences in parenting style, which may lead to differences in child development. Does this generational difference have differential effects on the children's cartoon-viewing experience? We recruited 89 parents and grandparents and their kindergarten-aged children (approximately 5 years old) to participate in the study. The mothers or grandmothers were asked to coview a cartoon for approximately 7 min with their child, after which the child was asked questions about the cartoon-viewing experience. The results show the following: (1) compared with grandmothers, mothers generally think that cartoons have a very high influence on children's physical and mental health (χ 2 = 8.83, p < 0.05), (2) mothers place more restrictions on the content of cartoons that their children view, whereas grandmothers' attitudes are characterized by greater tolerance (χ 2 = 11.94, p < 0.01), and (3) in the case of coviewing with mothers, when the children are asked "why" questions about the cartoon-viewing experience questionnaire, they use more experience proofs to explain their answers than when they coview with grandmothers (χ 2 = 16.69, p < 0.01; χ 2 = 10.44, p < 0.05).

The Effects of Prosocial Cartoon Examples on Children’s Donating Behavior

“…Prosocial cartoon is a type of cartoon that attempts to impart moral information (eg, Super Friends) in television programs, compared with control cartoon (eg, Bugs Bunny). 8 , 9 However, prosocial behavior is a very broad concept including many behavioral aspects like helping, sharing, comforting, cooperating, etc. Notably, prosocial behavior mainly includes developmental patterns of donating and helping during infancy and early childhood.…”

Analyzing Hidden Elements in Disney Movies and Effects on Children

“…Parents-child relation is significant for a healthy life (de Leeuw & van der Laan, 2018). The motherchild bond is missing in Disney, and it is, therefore, better to watch such movies together with kids and teach them how they are different from the real world (Meng, Sheng, Zhao, Wang & Su, 2020).…”

Prosocial Cartoons Exposure and Aggressive Behavior in Aggressive Boys: The Potential Mediating Role of Empathy

“…The nding suggests that cartoon developers, parents and child psychologists should should especially use prosocial cartoons as an effective way to decrease aggression among 10-year-old aggressive boys. For example, we can improve children's screen experience through co-viewing cartoons with children (Meng et al, 2020). Finally, given that aggressive behavior can be decreased by increasing prosocial content of cartoons and levels of empathy, increasing prosocial cartoon exposure and empathy training programs may alleviate aggression for aggressive Chinese boys.…”