In no way do I want to compare a prescription pharmaceutical to a twenty-two-minute cartoon that once was hand-drawn and now is created by the use of a computer but alas, maybe I do in this one respect. Many times we often hear, "Get the child away from the television. That junk is no good for the child." While we still hear that today, cartoon watching may have now been replaced by video games or spending time online on the Internet. 

But, as parents, coaches, teachers, and caring adults, is the child in some small fashion practicing what we as adults preach?

I used a Xanax example, but you can replace it with any sedative or stimulant. And, I in no way or form am advocating against the use of these things correctly of course. Let us ask ourselves, what do we use these for? To relieve anxiety, to put life on pause, or is it to just escape for a little while.

Can one then make a case in some small measure when a child sits and watches a cartoon or plays a video game, the child may be mimicking what we do as adults? For, I am sure I am not the only one who remembers fondly that Saturday morning bowl of cereal after a long week of school. I just sat and was with my thoughts as a cartoon flickered in front of my eyes.

One may say and be correct possibly, as adults we have big problems that children just don't have.

But, in my studies towards my Master's degree in education, research study after research study shows the mathematical theory of "scale" is in play.

Adult problems and children's problems sometimes overlap, but sometimes, the problems of a child is being lonely at school. In response to hearing their parents fight, sequestering themselves in their bedrooms with a pillow over their head, he or she is hoping upon hope that their father and mother would stop yelling at each other. 

Will a child worrying about a sick friend or relative sometimes need a "prescription" of a cartoon, a video game or just spending time doing something that the adult who is caught up in their anxieties may not understand?

The non-judgmental conversation is key. The causality of behavior even as mundane as watching television is not a cause for alarm, as much as, we may be best served not to judge, but rather just keep an eye on it and allow the child to enjoy what I call that cartoon Xanax.

Written By: Darren Redmond

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