Focus, dammit!

.
Spongep ... Wait, hunh?



“Fox News ran a story that even watching just a few minutes of SpongeBob SquarePants can lower a child’s ability to concentrate, delay gratification, and might even cause learning problems.

The problems were seen in a study of 60 children randomly assigned to either watch SpongeBob, or the slower-paced PBS cartoon Caillou or assigned to draw pictures.

Immediately after these nine-minute assignments, the kids took mental function tests; those who had watched SpongeBob did measurably worse than the others.

... “I think the CNN-Tea Party GOP Debate last night might have same effect on us as SpongeBob does on kids. First of all, there is the fact that a respected news organization is pairing up with the Tea Party. As the T-shirts say, ‘Tea Party sounds so much nicer than racist homophobes.’ Already my ability to concentrate and delay gratification is a point or two lower.”

—Laurie Essig, “SpongeBob SquarePants and the Tea Party Debate,”
Chronicle of Higher Education, September 13, 2011 URL
(Thanks to alert WORDster Mark Larson)

• Editorial Comment: Why would anyone want kids to focus on SpongePants?


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