The cartoons for early childhood can become a tool of enrichment and growth for children, as long as they do not leave them alone in front of the screen and accompany them in the vision
The diffusion of TV channels for children under the age of 6 and the general increase in multimedia content for childhood risk producing a misunderstanding: in fact, the idea that the child alone would be possible to leave alone in front of the screen of the TV, computer or tablet is increasingly shared. If certainly it is right that a parent, inside and outside the home, try to carve out of the moments for himself, It is important to underline that the use of cartoons (and in general the use of the screens) should never take place in “isolation”and that those functions that are due to the adult should not be delegated to technological devices.
The risks to be assessed
In fact, a series of risks must be considered that regardless of the specific cartoon and its quality: for example, the Difficulty for the child to understand the content alonethe exposure without filters to a long sequence of commercials, the altered perception of time and space, and the difficulty in managing emotional states.
These are risks concerning the “form” of the cardboard, to which the analysis of the content of the texts for early childhood will be combined, in order to bring out the critical issues and potential. For example, among the critical issues close link between cartoons and the “market”: many characters have now come out of the boundaries of the screen to enter the daily life of children in the form of gadgets of all types, ranging from toys to clothing and nutrition. Furthermore, in the cartoons, childhood and parenting models are often presented which, in addition to becoming a mirror of the existing reality, also tend to confirm it and strengthen it. Let’s think of Peppa Pig, so similar to a “girl tyranny”, in Masha (the lively protagonist of Masha and bear)as dynamic as it is self -centered and little inclined to evaluate the consequences of their actions, or to the PJ Masks, who already before the 3 years “fight evil” embodied by three perfidious enemies.
On the side of the cartoons
Each text, however, also presents significant opportunities: we consider the simplicity of language in Peppa Pig, the mutual dimension of care between the girl and her friend Bear, the importance of collaboration to solve problems. It is not necessary to try to distinguish between “good” and “bad” cartoons; It is useful instead to proceed with a critical analysis of all the contentsidentifying those aspects on which you can discuss with your children after viewing.
Gianni Rodari, in an article from 1980, declared to take sides “on the Goldrake side”: an invitation not to focus on the negative aspects of the media, and in particular of cartoons, but to recognize how those texts had entered the life of the boys and represented a material with which school and adults should have come into contact, to understand it better and make it expand, instead of circumscribing the experience of children.
The educational aspects
The educational potential of cartoons are linked to four characteristics, each of which will be even more significant with an adult that accompanies and explains:
- The use of images, which can also make stories simple that for a small child would be complex;
- the ability to represent emotions and to reflect on them, thus offering an emotional gym;
- identification and mirroring force in the characters of the stories, with the possibility of experimenting with new situations;
- The linguistic enrichment, which concerns both the native speaker and the second language, as long as the experience of the screen does not replace the more traditional ones such as reading books or listening to narratives.
To adequately face the risks and at the same time exploit the potential of the cartons, Parents can act on three dimensions: the choice, the problematization and the game.
Choose and problematize
First of all it is necessary Choose which cartoons to show the child: it can be useful to inquire and look for even outside the “television flow”by selecting for example animation short films with high aesthetic value, or looking for some production particularly sensitive to educational themes (such as the Italian minicuccuccioli cardboard). In general, among the criteria that can guide in the choice, the correspondence between the age of the characters and the age of children, the clarity and the comprehensibility of the stories, the way in which emotions are faced, the connection with concrete experiences, the ability to entertain, the representation of positive values such as friendship, solidarity, the enhancement of differences, autonomy, etc. will be considered.
The second task that belongs to parents is to problematize: Looking at the cartoons with children should not mean letting the episodes scroll one after the other, but dedicating some time to verbalization after each episode. In this way the children will live in from an early age to talk about what they have seen, to connect it to their daily experiences, to describe the character they preferred, to reflect on the places and situations represented, thus developing their critical ability as a hand.
Enrich the experience
Finally, there is the playful and creative dimension: to make a truly educational cartoon, The vision as the end itself should not be considered, but rather transform it into an initial stimulus, a “pre-head” from which to start new activities. At the end of the episode, we can propose to the child to draw some details that struck him, to imagine an alternative ending, or to create a manual activity connected to the episode (which perhaps provides for the use of the ten fingers of the hand and which puts the five senses at stake).
The cartoons are not enemies, but elements now rooted in our culture Which must be “read” and masked consciously, even by preschool children. Those laboratory experiences organized by nests and kindergartens in which a collaboration between educators, teachers and parents is therefore to be encouraged to ensure that the adult learns to accompany the vision of the cartoons. The goal is to make them products that enrich the experience of children, while promoting dialogue in the family and promoting a critical and creative approach to reality.
