Mr. Bean and Education

Animation. Cartoons. Walt Disney. Tom and Jerry. Words that can make me smile. Words that would make most adults smile and kids shriek with joy. Ok, so there are more cartoons now than when I was younger. Ok, there are more channels now than ever before. And ok, there are more cartoon channels than even the kids can keep up with. So now, we, the adults who have in due course of time transformed from kids to parents, are informed that it isn’t good to have children glued watching silly cartoons. They learn nothing from them. It is a form of mindless entertainment.
I tend to shrug off most of these accusations as coming from adults who lack a certain sense of humour or as someone who hasn’t really sat and watched through the cartoons. Now don’t get me wrong, every good thing has its bad sides,the whole yin and yang things. But must we only focus on the negative? I enjoy a good cartoon as much as my 5 and 7 year olds do and sometimes a little bit more! And I am of the opinion that cartoons not only entertain, they also teach! Ah don’t gasp friends, it is true. Allow me to demonstrate.
Recently my husband and I had a live demo of one such incident. We were asked, one evening to be an audience to a two-member show, put up by my then 6 year old son and 4 year old daughter. The props were one half of the cover of their plastic toy box. This was a just a flat sheet of plastic. I didn’t realize it then, but their other prop was my daughter. The demonstration: my son vigoursly rubbed the sheet on his t-shirt and then placed it one inch above my daughter’s head. Result: all the hair on the top of her head stood up. Reason: (as explained by my children) “mom, dad, see this is static electricity”!!
We were agog! Wow! There we sat, two proud people, as only parents and owners of show dogs can be! What a way to learn about science! We decided that it was worth the enormous school fees that we shell out annually, if teaching had become this advanced and experiential. I asked my son, if this was a science experiment from school. To which he replied, ‘No, ma, we just learnt this from Mr. Bean!’
If one really sits through cartoons, you will realize that most often there is a message. Sometimes subtle and sometimes not. But enough to know that it isn’t just a waste of time. My children have learnt to ‘clean up’ their room from Barney. To share from ‘Mickey Mouse and Friends’, that winning isn’t everything from Lightning Mcqueen in Cars, that onions and ogres have ‘layers’ from Shrek, experimenting with Phineas and Ferb. Lessons on confidence, lessons on friendship. Even word building. It also allows me to conduct mock quizzes based on favourite cartoon shows. Its a time for them to show off that they know more than mommy!
What we don’t realize is that today’s children are very visually oriented. They are the next generation. So if they learn differently from us, it doesn’t mean the technique or they way they have learnt is wrong, just that we need to include that learning as well.
So while, I am not propagating that TV be the medium of instruction for your kid or, God forbid, you hire Mr. Bean as your child’s tutor, I am suggesting that we adults should view cartoons as more than just mere animation. But something that sticks to a young mind and leaves an impression.
That said, all the more reason that the ‘negative’ part of animation be closely monitored and preferably avoided. Which brings me back to where I started. All parents must watch cartoons along with their children or else be aware of what they are watching. So enjoy watching your children enjoy their world of imagination and wonder and dive into that world yourself. Getting in touch with your inner child will be that much more easier.
Now to borrow a line from a famous cartoon show…”That’s all folks!