Proposal
- The Child Studies program consists of studying the role of children in today’s society and understanding the importance that environmental factors have on their development within a specific educational setting.
- Does SpongeBob Squarepants negatively affect a child’s intelligence?
- I will use my experience watching SpongeBob Squarepants and other external evidence to support my view of how the previous cartoon has a negative impact on a child’s learning process, only if the previous individual is under the age of 12.
- I believe that this topic can interest many different types of viewers because they usually know what the show consists of, and ever since its creation, there has been several different opinions concerning the impact that the Nickelodeon show could have on a child’s education. This topic interests me because I always found that this show was funny, and I would like to analyze it more in depth to understand how it could possibly impact younger viewers’ level of intelligence. This topic could be relevant to compare the academic achievement of children who do not watch SpongeBob Squarepants, to the educational success of those who are frequently exposed to the television show.
- I am going to relate this topic to my program by exploring the different developmental impacts that an environmental factor could have on a child’s cognitive behaviour.
- I believe that this article could be featured in the Psychology Today magazine due to the fact that it focuses on how a specific form of media can influence a child’s intelligence level. https://www.psychologytoday.com/
- I had a relatively difficult time finding a topic for my final paper. However, after having a debate on this issue with my older brother, I decided that it would be interesting to write about my thoughts and feelings concerning the impact that a TV show could have on a child’s cognitive development. This topic is really precise, so I might encounter a few difficulties while conducting the interview, as well as when I will be obtaining valid and reliable evidence to support my claim. I am excited to discover if there is actual proof that SpongeBob Squarepants causes harmful effects on a young child’s intelligence. I hope that I will obtain enough information throughout the process of writing my paper because I believe that this topic could be very fascinating if I am able to go in depth about how the brain’s neurological patterns react when they are exposed to a TV show that does not require a high level of mental concentration. I am curious to compare the level of intelligence of a preschooler who watches SpongeBob Squarepants to the one of a preschooler who is not exposed to the TV show, because I am fascinated to know if it actually impair’s a young child’s cognitive development.
- I could possibly interview a Psychology or Cinema professor at Dawson College. I could also try to find someone who works in the domain of cartoons and/or child entertainment. I could conduct experimental research in elementary schools, at a youth centre in Montreal or where I work in Knowlton. I could create some sort of questionnaire to gather information as well. Other then that, I am not quite sure where else I could go to conduct experimental research concerning my topic.
mimocote 
Miranda, you’ve clearly put a lot of work into your proposal and first draft, and I see many encouraging things. First of all, you are attempting to find an interesting an intriguing topic. Your writing in your first draft is interesting and engaging. I can see you trying things with your language, and the results are exciting. Lots to like here, and I have no doubt that you will produce a great feature article.
When I first read your one-sentence description, my first thought was “Ha. Super interesting.” But my second thought was, “Hm. What could that actually mean?” I like that you’re attempting to find a grabbing and original topic. That’s great. But, there’s one potential issue that I see. I did ask for your topics to be as specific as possible, but yours I think might be too specific. I had one thought while reading your draft: isn’t all television bad for a young child’s intelligence? You say that Spongebob “does not require a large amount of mental concentration.” But, does any show? I find it easy to believe that television is bad for a young child’s development. I find it hard to believe that Spongebob is any worse than any other cartoon. I read the article that I think you’re referring to:
http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-spongebob-squarepants-children-brain-20110912,0,2849965.story?track=rss
But, this article is more about fast-paced television shows in general, rather than Spongebob in particular. So, while you can say something like “Does Spongebob make kids less smart?” in your title, I don’t think you can really just talk about Spongebob because it can’t be any worse than other cartoons. Don’t you think?
But, there is certainly a topic to be found somewhere in this area. It is easier than ever for parents today to just plop their kids in front of the TV, iPad, etc. to pacify them. Certainly, too much TV watching at a young age can be detrimental. Perhaps you can broaden your scope a little bit. The danger here, I suppose, is a well-worn “TV is bad for kids” paper. But, I think that examining the phenomenon of parents over-using TV as a way to get their kids to just sit still can be interesting, and one that is increasingly relevant to our current world. Ten years ago, there wasn’t nearly the possibility to watch TV while on the go as there is today. I know my sister would always put on a DVD when her kids were younger and they didn’t want to eat. All this to say that I think there’s a topic that you can come up with related to TV and kids development that can be interesting and original. I just think that focusing only on Spongebob might be problematic. Spongebob could be the specific example that you use to open up to a broader discussion. Another thing you can do is look at more educational cartoons vs. more potentially damaging ones.
As I said, you’re doing great work. With some tweaking, I’m confident you’ll be on a very productive and interesting track.
TOPIC MUST BE TWEAKED.
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