Editorial Cartoon – SpongeBob is Making Your Kid Stupid

Editorial Cartoon - Spongebob Squarepants linked to Attention Deficit Disorder

So it seems our old Nickelodeon friend SpongeBob Squarepants is being blamed for causing little tykes to have attention problems.  A research study being discussed out of the University of Virginia points out that preschoolers who watch fast paced fantasy cartoons before being tested for memory, problem solving, attention etc. perform significantly worse than the ones who watched a slower paced cartoon or who were asked to draw for nine minutes.

As if this should be a surprise to anyone.  Patrick would be an MIT grad if he didn’t always hang around with SpongeBob.

Thoughts on this research?  Are you dumber from the cartoons you watched as a kid?

Don’t forget that you have until Midnight Saturday to win a free caricature.  Details.

Comments

96 responses to “Editorial Cartoon – SpongeBob is Making Your Kid Stupid”

  1. Friggin Loon Avatar

    SpongeBob Squarepants? Blahahaha it’s the Teletubbies you got to fear 🙁

    1. Bearman Avatar

      OMG…that is so slow, I think I got stupid from the reverse effect.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      The physical manifestation of one or personality wise. If the former, then I am wondering how they grow down in OZ

  2. Friggin Loon Avatar

    OK, this is just so I get three comments in a row…..Sheez!!!!!

  3. Friggin Loon Avatar

    Shall I go for four? Hell, why not 🙂

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Who are you Nate Fakes? Only he spams his own posts to make it seem like more commenters than there actually are…haha

      1. Friggin Loon Avatar

        He told me to….honest!!!

        1. Bearman Avatar

          Yes but only on his site or guest posts made by him

  4. MC/Curtis Avatar

    I don’t think Patrick looks like a dick.
    But I’d bet any or all television makes anyone and everyone stupid.
    I like to watch a little T.V. sometimes.
    My family growing up called it letting our brains run out our ears.
    It was relaxing.

    I like how on The Sponge Bob Show you forget they are underwater but then some bubbles rise or a fish swims by and then you remember. Also sometimes they have a campfire going even though they are underwater. Otherwise it’s not too funny.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I like Spongebob but I keep telling my wife I must have had ADD before it was cool to have it.

      1. Bo Lumpkin Avatar

        You probably developed a lot of your traits before it was cool to have them.

        1. Bearman Avatar

          I will tell the wife next time I am annoying her that I am just pre-cool

          1. Jande Avatar

            perhaps the Prequel to pre-cool?

  5. James Avatar

    Sponge Bob made me forget if Superman had a mullet pre or post wearing his white and electric blue suit.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I thought it was “electric boots, a mohair suit (You know I read it in a magazine) BbbbBennie and the Jets.”

  6. nursemyra Avatar

    SpongeBob SquarePants is just Gumby in disguise isn’t he? 😉

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I don’t know the only Gumby I ever watched was Eddie Murphy.

      1. George Avatar

        I’ve never seen any other Gumby either.

  7. G Avatar

    Ya know, I put these bozos in the same class as those who decided back in the 90’s that Spongebob and Patrick were gay simply because they sometimes held hands.

    Honestly if that was the case, then my attention span would’ve been (what was that? ooooh spider web) shot to pieces after (what was that? ooooh chipmunk) watching Bugs Bunny and friends.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I wasn’t such a big Bugs Fan but I liked Daffy. I always rooted for the underdog. Daffy, Wiley, Tom…

  8. Bo Lumpkin Avatar

    Most of the made for kids programs these days seem to destroy brain cells. Bring back Looney Toons. Even Scooby Doo beats the garbage they have on Saturday mornin’s now.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I blame looney too s for my lack of brain cells

      1. Bo Lumpkin Avatar

        Are you sure you can lay all the blame on one company. I have lost so many brain cells I have to spread the blame around.

        1. Bearman Avatar

          Obviously yes because I can’t even type Looney Toons correctly.

  9. SpilledInkGuy Avatar

    Eh.
    When I was a kid I built plenty of ‘ACME’ inspired stuff to drop on my head and I turned out just…
    HEY! What’s that shiny thing over there…
    🙂

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I always was mad that my parents never got the acme catalog in the mail

  10. Dustin Avatar

    I feel like this research is just one in a long line of many claiming that TV is bad for you. I actually agree but pinning this whole thing on Sponge Bob seems a bit extreme. I’m sure you could easily switch that yellow sponge for others like Pokemon, Adventure Time or what ever popular stuff is out right now and get the same results. But at the same time, I’m not too worried about this either.

    Before Sponge Bob we had MTV with flashy music videos and we generally turned out ok. I just think parents (grand parents, day care, random people on the stree) need to take a bit more responsibility for their child’s development. I know TV is a nice way to get 24 minutes of peace and quiet, but after an episode is done, go do something fun and active to counter all the TV a young one has just watched.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I think they said pretty much any fast paced show would do it….not just the Bob

      My parents wouldn’t let us watch tv before six on weekdays and after homework was done

      1. George Avatar

        In my day, cartoons only came on Saturdays from 6:30am-11:30am. After that, I had to watch live people. Yuck!

  11. MJ Avatar

    SpongeBob not make me stooopid.
    Ha,ha,ha! SpongeBob is a hoot to sketch.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      You must be watching too much George ford then…haha

  12. rent textbooks Avatar

    I doubt that spongebob causes ADD, i agree they may mimic symptoms of ADD after watching but probably only cause they are excited and had fun watching it

    1. Bearman Avatar

      That and they keep thinking “I’m Ready, I’m Ready” to themselves.

  13. DadaHyena Avatar

    I was raised on “Ren & Stimpy” and “Rocko’s Modern Life”, and I turned out sane and normal.

    …waitaminute…

    1. Bearman Avatar

      That is veeeeeeerrrrrrrryyy questionable.

    2. rent textbooks Avatar

      I loved Rockos Modern Life. My brother was addicted to Ren and Stimpy.

      1. Bearman Avatar

        I don’t even know what Rockos Modern Life is.

        1. rent textbooks Avatar

          I was on Nickelodeon, it was about an Australian Wallaby who moved to the states and had some weird friends. It was pretty funny.

  14. George Avatar

    Kids are being dumbed down on every level. It’s not just SpongeBob’s fault. When I was younger you had to read because there weren’t a lot of alternatives for entertainment.

    Now, a kid’s world is filled with fun distractions. My own stepkids never go to the library and don’t read at all. Even when it comes to superheros, my son would rather watch a Spiderman cartoon than to read a Spiderman comic book, hands down.

    It’s kinda sad to me.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Well you are the parent. LIMIT THEM….oh wait, they have to drag the remote and the computer time away from you.

  15. Mark Stokes Avatar

    What do you expect from an organism that has no nervous, digestive or circulatory system? Talk about veggin’!

    1. Bearman Avatar

      You mean he doesn’t actually eat the crabby patties. And what exactly is in the crabby patty?

  16. planetross Avatar

    Why does Tony, in your free ad space, have the same pose as SpongBob?

    note: it’s probably not a good idea to watch SpongeBob just before going in for a job interview.

    double note: there should be a study on driving skills after adults watch their favourite sports team get bumped from the playoffs.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I use Tony as my drawing muse.

      Unless that job interview is to write for SpongeBob

      Don’t know about their driving but their use of the finger to other drivers probably increases.

    2. Tony McGurk Avatar

      Hey will you look at that, I never noticed that before!!! Maybe Spongebob’s my long lost twin brother who I was separated from at birth when the nurse thought he was a sponge & threw him into the medical waste bin for sterilization. That would sure explain a lot…

      1. bearman Avatar

        Are you sure you weren’t the one thrown away…hahah

        1. Tony McGurk Avatar

          That’s possible, that’s very possible…

  17. alecho Avatar

    It all makes sense! now I know why I didn’t get into Harvard! damn you Spongeboooooooob! (Haha, naw it was because of my SAT score 😉 )

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Well you could have been watching before the SAT. What kept me from Harvard….$$$$$$$$

  18. Binky Avatar

    Cartoons and comic strips, specifically ones about wombats, have been scientifically proven to increase your IQ by at least 20 points, while simultaneously making you more attentive, easier to get along with, and more responsible, too. For the best effect, read at least one Wombie-based comic strip every day.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Luckily for you and your web traffic, you have the lock on Wombat cartoons.

    2. Bo Lumpkin Avatar

      I guess I need to replace Mildred’s sign with a picture of you.

    3. Barry Rattus Avatar

      Or a Rat comic…

      1. bearman Avatar

        Or a rat comic.

        1. Jande Avatar

          or both…

          but I do love Mildred.

  19. jb Avatar

    Spongebob is an educational cartoon. His carrere is what most of the youth of today will be doing for the rest of there lives.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      haha….JB. Too funny

  20. duncanr Avatar

    Tom and Jerry

    Wile E Coyote & Roadrunner

    Them’s the buggers that retarded my development !!!

    😆

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Was I off for always rooting for Tom and Wiley??

  21. Cedric Rattus Avatar

    That Spongebob bloke looks like a chunk of cheese to me. Can I have him??? I will love him & hug him & call him Geor… Errrm… Yummy, I will call him Yummy!!!

    1. bearman Avatar

      George is just a big hunk of cheese.

  22. Tony McGurk Avatar

    I don’t think it would have too much effect but then again you never really know for sure with modern kids. Cartoons were a lot funnier in the good ol’ days. I grew up watching Bugs & Daffy, & Elmer & Foghorn & Wile E & Roadrunner & Sylvester & Tweety & I’m a regular well adjusted bloke with no psychological problems.
    Ummm…
    Well I do have a mental illness but I’m on medication. Other than that the cartoons didn’t affect me. That’s all folks!!!

    1. bearman Avatar

      I think more kids have mental illness today because we now know what to call it. When I was a kid, we were just known as hyperactive.

  23. Young American Wisdom Avatar

    I threw a party when my kids grew out of Barney…talk about detrimental to mental health…I’m borderline retarded now. Since we’ve switched to SpongBob, I’ve stopped drooling.

    1. bearman Avatar

      Really…because Patrick and Spongebob are notorious droolers.

  24. bluntdelivery Avatar

    I hate effing spongebob.

    one of the many reasons i’ve prolonged the child making.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      You will soon run out of excuses when you have the shot gun wedding.

  25. Comedy Plus Avatar

    It’s probably the schools that make our kids dumber. And the universities too. Brained washing is pretty much what some of them do. I so remember as I made my way through college. Had to bite my tongue all the time.

    Have a terrific day. 🙂

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I never did bite my tongue in college. As much as I embarrassed my profs, there was only one time it bit me in the ass.

      1. Jande Avatar

        There are certain types of learning styles that simply don’t do well in school. Better to not judge a person’s intelligence by the grades they get. There are many different kinds of intelligence.

        1. Bearman Avatar

          Now she tells me. I could have worked a lot less in college.

  26. Jay Avatar

    Settle down preschoolers and take your equilibrium. Remember imagination is one step away from insanity.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I like that…imagination is one step from insanity. That is why some artists that I think were insane did what is considered beautiful work.

    2. Binky Avatar

      That’s very true, and explains a lot of people around here!
      Not me, of course.

  27. Frank M Hansen Avatar

    Great cartoon. Interesting study. probably being misquoted by the media.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Nope…heard the researcher on the radio. No misquote.

  28. bschooled Avatar

    No sh*t. Just looking at Spongebob makes me want to start climbing the walls.

    For me, it was Scooby Doo. Actually, it was more Shaggy than Scooby. I got tired just listening to him.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Most people got contact high listening to him.

  29. lisleman Avatar

    boob tube, vast wasteland have described TV shows in the past. This is nothing really new. It’s not a problem if it is used correctly.
    Maybe sponge bob should only be allowed after your bath.

    1. Jande Avatar

      –or during it. Though I would rather bob for apples. ;`)

  30. Nate Fakes Avatar

    And everyone thought Beavis and Butthead would be the ones to make us stupid.

  31. Jason Avatar

    Have you ever read the book “Plug-In Drug”? I watch a lot less TV since reading it. I can’t guarantee I’m a lot less stupid though.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      No…did they make it into a movie that I can watch?

  32. […] Sides? Really? That’s cartoonish, like this editorial visual statement at Beartoons.com at […]

  33. Dr. Cynicism Avatar

    “Patrick would be an MIT grad if he didn’t always hang around with SpongeBob.” That is the king of all retorts – thanks for the Bearman!

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I do what I do.

  34. 25BAR Avatar

    All I watched was He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
    I still find the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull hot!

  35. Hjörtur Hjartarson Avatar

    I watch SpongeBob all the time and It has not effected my atten… Uh! Shine!…….

  36. Jande Avatar

    Well, well, another TV fantasmical I have never had the dubious pleasure of watching or inflicting on my children… Does he really look like that? Scary!

    1. Barbaric Bob Avatar
      Barbaric Bob

      no in reality he looks worse O_O and that laugh of his makes your IQ drop with 1 point everytime you hear it D:

  37. Barbaric Bob Avatar
    Barbaric Bob

    how could you not end up more stupide from watching a sponge being a retard? i mean kids mimick
    thats why i grew up on dexters lab and, cow and chicken they cept my genius and retard balanced 😀

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Dexter was a mad genius.

      1. Barbaric Bob Avatar
        Barbaric Bob

        doesn’t that explain alot?:P