Sponge Bob is Making Your Kids Stupid

I am vindicated.

I'm always telling my dad that the cartoons on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon that he lets my kids watch when they come over are rotting their brains.

Just look at the pace the shows are moving. Track how fast the images change on the screen. Most screen shots change every second, some are as fast as half a second. Compare that pace to that of the shows on PBS. The difference is massive. My dad thought I was an over reactor . . . until he heard the study on the radio and realized his genius grandchildren's IQ's were being threatened (he belongs to MENSA). I know, you'd think that for a person with such a high IQ he would have been able to call out the adverse effects of the programming intuitively. Like me.

A study released by Angeline Lillard and Jennifer Peterson, both of the University of Virginia's department of psychology proved that kids who viewed just 9 minutes of "Sponge Bob Square Pants" scored significantly lower than their peers when tested after viewing the program. (latimes.com).

Of course Nickelodeon does not agree with the study. Sponge Bob was certainly not meant for pre-schoolers. I don't think it's meant for 6-9 year olds either. Maybe I should join MENSA too.