Cartoons are the prime source of entertainment for kids of all ages. There is hardly any kid who doesn’t like watching cartoons. But recently a study conducted by Carleton University, Canada shows that some of the Disney cartoons give out “wrong messages” to kids about “stranger danger”.
According to the researchers, some of the classic Disney movies like Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Robin Hood have explicit scenes which show that the children receive “unwanted contact” or “threatening approaches” from the adults. The study has been published in the journal Child Abuse, and was conducted by a team of psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists at Carleton University, in Canada.
The academics wrote that they were “surprised to find depictions of children being touched, usually by adults, contrary to the expressed desires of the child”.
To reach the conclusion, researchers studied 47 animated feature length Disney films, released between 1937 and 2006.
In ten of them, they found examples of “unwanted personal contact” or scenes which show child characters in “risky situations”.
Dr Wendy Hovdestad, the lead author, said: “The depictions of child and adolescent characters being grabbed and kissed against their will by adult characters is particularly problematic for the boy characters Wart (The Sword in the Stone), Flounder (The Little Mermaid), and Skippy (Robin Hood), because the context in the film is humorous.
“The treatment would probably be upsetting if it happened to a real child, and treating it as humorous is directly contradicting sexual safety education that teaches children that they get to decide who touches their bodies.”
The report concludes: “The findings raise questions about potential impacts on child audiences. Is the unwanted contact and risky situation content appropriate viewing for children, given efforts to teach children sexual safety?”
How ever a Disney spokes person comments that “As we have not studied the report we are unable to comment.”
"Stay away from strangers", "Do not talk to a stranger" are some of the things that we teach our kids.So what should a parent do when studies like this comes to fore front. Should we stop our kids from watching cartoons? Please share your thoughts.
Source :
Times of India, ANI
piakaghar.com
livenri.com
Wake up folks..!
I m sure when the team of experts gone through the research and made this report they must be having reasons to make such comment on Disney movies of this category. But if u go back on time and think about any comics we read in our childhood like Phantom, Super man, Flash Gordon or almost all of them had even more confusing elements in the stories than the mentioned movies.
In the beginning of all these films there is a card shown which says "PG" that means the parents should guide the kids to judge or analyze the events shown there. But unfortunately we have such little time for our kids these days that we prefer to get them some animation DVDs and let them watch those on their own. So in my perspective its not the movies which is the problem here, its rather the parents who do not think its important for them to be more responsible towards their kids. So I suggest parents should stop thinking too much about the comments made by Canadians on American movies and do what they really need to.
PRODIPTO ROY, Animation film maker, India.
Yes I agree...
Yes I agree...
Yes I agree with Mr. Prodipto
Yes I agree with Mr. Prodipto Roy to some extent, that parents should be more aware of what their children are watching on tv, but I don't think the disney movies like snow white and all comes with a "pG" certificate. They are meant to be watched by the small children without any parental guidance.
Oh Well!
I truly feel there are scenes in all these Disney cartoons which are not appropriate for young children to see. For example, in the movie "Sleeping beauty" the way a 15 year old Aurora is seen to "date" wth the unknown prince is not appropriate.I agree with Prodipto, parents should be aware of what their children are watching.
Alice in Wonderland
Let alone "stranger danger"!
Let alone "stranger danger"! the cartoons most of the time shows absurd reality.The parental guidance should be there.Mr. Prodipto Roy is right.
I too agree
Yes its time to become aware of what our children is wathching in their cartoons........
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