My wife, Victoria, has had a firm rule in our home ever since the birth of our daughter, Cadyn: no "SpongeBob Square Pants."
Eight-year-old Cadyn is not allowed to watch "SpongeBob," and neither am I. I have to admit I was a little disappointed in this rule, because I became a fan of "SpongeBob" when my 23-year-old daughter, Ally, was growing up. Ally and I whiled away many hours watching the adventures of SpongeBob, Patrick and the rest of the Bikini Bottom gang.
It now appears that my wife may have been right with her ban of the funny, yellow sponge. The University of Virginia published a study that found kids who watched Nickelodeon's "SpongeBob" had more problems concentrating than little ones who watched children's programming on PBS. The researchers say it is because "SpongeBob" is faster paced than the PBS shows. The study claims that this fast pace can affect a child's ability to concentrate.
The University of Virginia conducted this study with a large number of 4-year-olds. The children were divided into three groups. One group watched "SpongeBob," another watched PBS and the third group were given crayons and paper and told to draw. The children were given a mental function test after each session. These measured the children's ability to solve problems, follow rules and remember what they were told. Researchers discovered that the SpongeBob group did worse on all the tests. The PBS group and the kids that drew scored very similar on each test and both were well above the SpongeBob group.
So is "SpongeBob" hurting our kids? Researchers say that fast-paced programs can overstimulate the brain, which can cause short-term attention and learning problems. The study did not say that these problems were long lasting. The study did recommend not letting your child watch the fast-paced programming when you need them to sit still or pay attention to other things in their surroundings.
Ally grew up on "SpongeBob," and I'm proud to say she is a college graduate and is gainfully employed in the health care field. So I can't really say that SpongeBob and the gang did her any harm. What I can say is that, in my opinion, SpongeBob is more fun to watch than Big Bird. Of course, this is just my opinion. Cadyn loved "Sesame Street" when she was younger. Now she is more of a fan of shows like "Liv & Maddie" and "Teen Titans."
I personally don't care for those shows. I'm still a lover of the SpongeBob crew. But I will have to suffer through without the giggly, flaxen loofa until those rare occasions when Cadyn and my wife are out of the house. Then maybe I can sneak a little time with Mr. Square Pants. But don't tell my wife.
Editorial on 07/23/2017