Plato Essays - Visual Arts, Adolescence, Animation, Cartoon Violence

Plato And Conservative Christians The views of Plato back in Ancient Greece and that of conservative Christians today about education for children have surprisingly similar views. Plato thought it to be most beneficial for children, if their learning consisted of music and poetry to shape the soul, and of physical training to shape the body. However, only stories that were fine and beautiful should be selected. Stories that co ained falsehoods should be banned along with passages that teach fear of death. The teaching should be done in moderation, only the good endings should be taught and only good deeds of heroes should be told. Conservative Christians today believe in many of the same ideas as Plato. Instead of music and poetry to shape the soul, the Bible should be the primary learning tool. Only shows that are non-secular and do not contain references to evolution should be allowed for children to watch. Shows that portray death to children should be monitored by parents. At the heart of these ideas, is the concern with cartoons and the effect they have on young children. This way of thinking does more harm to children then it does to protect them. By shielding them from what actually goes on in this world, i.e. death, sex and non religious views, you are setting them up for a harder time of understanding these concept when they are faced with them in real life. Cartoons can be a wonderful way of exposing children to the evils of this world in a less harmful way. Children are able to relate to cartoons in a special way that we as adults are unable to do. Because of the young age of the children in question, eir innocence is not lost and cartoons have a magical way of relating issues on a program to those that are prevalent in real life. Take for instance the idea of death that is seen in ?The Lion King' or ?Bambi'. This is the perfect segway for parents to start to teach their children about death. This allows children to see death in a non-realistic way and also gives them the curi ity to ask their parents about it. Parents should not shy away from a subject like this. Death is such a part of life that it needs to be explained to children at the earliest possible time that they are able to comprehend it in just the least. Just ink how much more difficult it would be trying to explain to a five year old that his mother has died, if you as a parent have never even mentioned the notion of death and what it entails to that child. That child would have such more difficulty unders nding that his mother is never coming back if he had been shielded from ever seeing death. There is the argument that you should protect a child's innocence for as long as possible because once its gone it will never return. There is merit in this argument. However, you have to make the decision on whether you want protect a child for a couple of more years, or explain to them the trials of life and in doing so, making it easier for them to comprehend this world when they are older. A child that never learns about death, will never be able to embrace it and to realize that death is not an ending but a new beginning. Everyone is going to experience death at some point in there life and by learning at a young age what death actuall entails will make it easier for that child when faced with the situation. Cartoons are given too much credit for shaping the way that young children think and behave. Adults are giving cartoons this credit because they can look at them and see subtleties because they are older and have so much more education. Children on the other hand are watching these cartoons solely as entertainment. They are not comprehending any underlining political or social message these cartoons may be conveying. If there are any political or social messages contained in cartoons, then they e intended for adults and will only be understood by adults. This also can be applied to the issues regarding death, sex, and violence in cartoons. A good majority of children don't watch cartoons to learn, but rather as a form of entertainment. Violence that is seen in cartoons by children is very rarely, if er emulated by them. If it is in fact