For some parents, choosing what their children watch means going back to the cartoons they grew up with themselves.
Shows such as Princess Sara and Chibi Maruko-chan are finding their way back to small screens, with some UAE mothers turning to programmes they grew up watching because they are already familiar with the stories, characters and messages their children are being exposed to.
For Um Maktoum, whose son is one year old, that also means looking for cartoons that feel calmer than some of the programmes available today.
She prefers shows with softer colours and less movement and often plays Little Bear at home.
But she also returns to the Arabic-dubbed cartoons she watched growing up, particularly programmes that aired on Spacetoon.
“I knew the stories, and a lot of the cartoons we watched were dubbed in a way that included Arab values,” she said.
She remembers shows such as Detective Conan, Romeo’s Blue Skies and Remi, Nobody’s Girl for stories centred on family, friendships and respect.
“Many of them had a lesson,” she said. “They were about mothers, siblings, friends, upbringing and respecting older people.”
Um Maktoum believes some newer children’s programmes place greater emphasis on comedy and entertainment, and said there are messages and behaviours in modern shows that she would rather her child did not pick up.
But that does not mean newer cartoons are completely banned in her home.
Instead, she creates YouTube playlists that mix educational programmes, calmer cartoons, comedy and other entertainment, allowing her to decide what is available for her child to watch when she is at work.
“I don’t want to completely deprive them of something and then have them go looking for it later,” she said. “I would rather mix what they watch, but choose it myself.”
Knowing what they are watching
Um Eman, a working mother of two daughters aged five and two, has a similar reason for returning to the cartoons she remembers from childhood.
For her, knowing the programme already gives her some reassurance when she cannot always be there to watch alongside her children.
“There is definitely nostalgia, but I also feel safer putting on something I have already watched,” she said. “I know the content and I know the story, so I feel more comfortable with what they are seeing.”
Her children do not enjoy every older cartoon she introduces them to, particularly programmes from the 1980s and early 1990s, where the animation and dubbing can feel noticeably different.
But some have worked.
“I try to get them to like these cartoons so they can watch them even when I am not there,” she said.
Um Eman believes children’s programmes have improved visually over the years, particularly when it comes to animation, sound and dubbing.
Her concern is with some of the messages she believes can appear in newer programmes.
“Sometimes you look at a cartoon from the outside and everything seems suitable for children,” she said. “But when you actually sit with them and watch episode after episode, you start noticing things that you might not have noticed otherwise.”
For working parents, she said monitoring everything a child watches is not always easy.
“You have to make the effort and follow what they are watching,” she said.
What children actually understand from TV
Dr Benzita Roshal Ferrao, clinical psychologist and clinical head at Aster DYU Child Development Centre in Bur Dubai, said television characters can have a significant influence on children because they can become some of their earliest models for understanding the world around them.
“Children learn how to deal with conflict, manage relationships, build values and also solve problems based on what they have seen,” she said, adding that repeated violence or conflict can normalise those behaviours.
Age also changes what a child takes from a programme.
Dr Ferrao said children aged between three and five can follow simple stories, but may still struggle to separate fantasy from reality or understand deeper ideas such as a character’s motives and perspective.
By around six, children become better at understanding emotions and intentions and distinguish between reality and fantasy.
For younger children, she recommends calmer colours, simpler visuals and slower-paced, lower-stimulation programmes, alongside content focused on age-appropriate learning and positive social behaviour.
That overlaps with what Um Maktoum looks for when choosing programmes for her child.
But Dr Ferrao cautioned against assuming that older automatically means better.
While greater awareness around children’s mental health has made some modern programmes more sensitive about what they show, both old and new content can include violence, stereotypes, discriminatory messages or other material parents may not want children absorbing.
More than nostalgia
There can still be something valuable about parents returning to the shows they once loved.
Dr Ferrao said sharing a childhood favourite can become more than simply recommending a programme. Parents are also sharing their own memories of excitement and enjoyment, which can create a common point of connection with their children.
Arabic programmes can also give children exposure to language, culture and traditional values through characters they connect with.
Ultimately, however, what matters is not simply whether a cartoon was made decades ago or today.
Television can support storytelling, learning and conversations about society when guided by parents, but what children take from it depends on the content, how long they watch and the conversations that happen afterwards.
For mothers such as Um Maktoum and Um Eman, bringing back the cartoons they grew up with is, therefore, partly about nostalgia, but also about knowing what is playing on the screen when they cannot always be sitting beside their children.
Source: Khaleej Times