SpongeBob’s in the hot seat again

Some use to claim that SpongeBob made kids gay because he holds hands with Patrick the Starfish while watching “The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy”. Of course I disagree with the homophobes. But now I have to admit that SpongeBob may not be good for my 7-year old. A new study published in the Journal Pediatrics says SpongeBob could ruin kids’ ability to pay attention, delay gratification, and think. Four-year-old kids who watched just nine minutes of the frenetically paced SpongeBob cartoon (scenes change every 11 seconds) did worse at concentration and self-control than kids who colored or watched the slower-paced PBS show “Caillou.” In past years, critics claimed the cartoon made kids fat (his Nickelodeon ads pushed high fructose corn syrup).

[via BostonHerald.com]