A Ludicrous Misconception

The cartoon TV series SpongeBob SquarePants has gotten some bad press recently. Some news stations are reporting that studies have shown that fast paced programming, like SpongeBob, is bad for children’s brains. The study demonstrates a group of 60 non-diverse four year olds that were separated in three different groups. One group drew pictures for nine minutes, one group watched nine minutes of the educational show Caillou, and the third watch nine minutes of the show SpongeBob SquarePants. After the nine minutes of their assigned task, the children were tested on their executive functions and the children who watched SpongeBob failed. The studies that were conducted, however, I feel have some flaws. For example, the group that was tested was non-diverse, which is definitely not the proper way to conduct a legitimate study. Also, the group of four year olds that they tested was out of SpongeBob SquarePants’ target audience, which is six year olds to eleven year olds. They scientists that conducted this experiment concluded that SpongeBob SquarePants, the fast paced cartoon, was bad for the children’s brains and caused them not to reach their full potential, which is practically discouraging parents to stop allowing their children to watch the show. However, I feel that because of the ill conducted experiments, the scientists should be discredited. My friends and I are prime examples of why they are wrong. We grew up on watching SpongeBob and obviously we turned out fine, being in honors and advanced placement courses and excelling academically. Therefore, one should check out the survey before they except their findings.