Adolescents and cartoon violence

Cartoon violence is the representation of violent actions involving animated characters and situations. This may include violence where a character is unharmed after the action has been inflicted.

People have different views about cartoons and the violence within them. Some researchers believe that high level of violence in cartoons can make children more aggressive. Their studies also found that young children tend to mimic the negative behavior they see on television. Output aimed at children as young as seven, which include a number of cartoons, had the highest levels of violence.

Some researches on the other hand believe that people need to consider the ways in which children process information, the amount of mental effort they invest, and their own life experience to gain an understanding of how television violence affects children. For instance recent research has indicated that children do not appear to mimic acts of violence in the media, whether television or cartoons. Blumberg, Bierwirth and Schwartz argue that children possess the ability to differentiate real life from animation, as well as the ability to understand right from wrong. They know that violent acts qualify as immoral and infringe on the welfare of others, therefore the violence witnessed in cartoons will register as "make believe" to children and will not be applied into their real lives.

There are a number of ways parents can control their children’s exposure to violence. One of the most effective and common ways of prevention is restricting the amount and types of programs children watch. With older children, parents might want to discuss, and explain television. This can help children to understand television material and overcome the effect TV violence has on their outlook and behaviors.

Three initiatives have been put in place to combat violence in cartoons (). The first is The Children's Television Act which requires broadcasters to air shows which are educational and provide information for the children. The second initiative is the V-chip legislation that gives parents the opportunity to block out violent shows from their television. The third legislation against violent cartoons is the National Cable Television Association’s TV Parental Guidelines, which is a system that rates the Television shows based on their contents

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