Op-Ed: Skip the nostalgia, pause the cartoon-watching experience

By Craig Wilson | Published by February 17, 2020  

You wake up and your alarm clock says 9 a.m. The toothpaste smeared on your shirt catches your eye but you don’t have time to clean it. You make your way to the kitchen and pour yourself a bowl of cereal fit for a king. Everyone is asleep so no one can bother you. The sofa reclines, the television turns on, and your favorite cartoon Dragon Ball begins with a recap of last Saturday’s episode. 

This is the feeling many children do not have the opportunity of experiencing in 2020. They do not know the joy of a week-long cartoon hiatus abruptly coming to a halt with the start of a new episode. They will never understand the appreciation of viewing one episode followed by a weeklong digestion of each episode.  

Where have these cherished childhood experiences gone to you may ask? I believe that streaming services are to blame.  

Streaming services like Hulu and Netflix are redefining the standards of the expectations of the viewing audience and changing what television means to each of us, especially children. Now children can access a full season of their favorite shows without having to wait for a new episode in a week.  

In my opinion, this type of viewing experience limits the ability of children to be able to digest as well as comprehend and learn lessons from what they have viewed.   

For instance, if I binge-watched “The Magic School Bus” as a kid I probably would not be able to remember half of the scientific definitions that were explained in the show. However, if I viewed it weekly, it is reasonable to think that I would have ample time to digest what I saw which would result in a better understanding of key themes. Besides, isn’t that a major reason we have children’s programming anyway? 

Additionally, children can skip episodes or scenes like skimming through a book. This not only promotes little appreciation for the creators of the show but again key themes and lessons may be overlooked. It also promotes a “gimme-gimme” behavior which is the kind that got adults hooked on binge-watching in the first place. 

More and more children are feeding their zero patience attitude by switching to streaming which is only getting more popular with services such as Disney Plus which launched in November 2019. 

Like a fallen cigarette in the woods, streaming is catching fire and will continue to until the industry finds a means to contain it. However, one has to wonder if they want to do that considering it’s making a whole lot of money. 

“Since making it’s content available on Netflix earlier this year, Cartoon Network has seen ratings in households with the service drop 10 percent compared with those without a Netflix subscription,” according to Bernstein Research analyst Todd Juenger. 

Some of Cartoon Network’s most popular shows such as “We Bare Bears,” “The Amazing World of Gumball,” and “Pokemon” are now streamed on  Hulu and Netflix. 

So, how do we make sure our youth can enjoy their time watching television without killing their sense of freedom? In my opinion, a breath of fresh air and the warm sunlight beaming on their sleep-deprived, sun-sensitive eyes should do the trick. 

However, if we must have binge-watching children in 2020 then I suggest having a brief discussion after each episode. Not only would this help the youth understand key themes and lessons in each episode, but parents can also monitor how much and what children are watching.  

Maybe someday the Saturday morning cartoon kid hiding deep within our busy lives will awaken again. But just remember, no cartoons after 8:30 p.m. because you have work in the morning.

 

Craig Wilson is a Communication major with a focus on Media and Film. 

 

 

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