Verrrry interesting. A plethora of web articles like this one claim explicitly that the “Spongebob Squarepants” show has been blamed for poor study and attention span in children. (See this news stream and pick any article at random)
Others claim – such as this one – that watching shows like the “Spongebob Squarepants” show is cited in a report as being the cause of the deficient behaviour.
However I took time to actually READ the report instead of giving it a quick gloss-over scan… The original can be found here if one chooses to take time to read it. I’ve copied it to this post here also: peds.2010-1919.full[1]
Nowhere does the report name any particular show (or shows) it used for testing, with the exception of gov’t-sponsored Sesame Street.
Meaning the Scary Headlines are, as usual, suspect and lack factual information. I do have to admit using a well-known cartoon caught my eye, but then again so would a fish hook. And I’m not a fan of either method of grabbing one’s attention.
If the writers really didn’t mean to mislead the reader, then it’s too bad they didn’t take time to actually read the publication before blasting out an article based on half-read details mixed in with personal interests and agendas.
Or were they too distracted by TV to pay attention?
