Jiangsu Consumer Protection Committee announced that nearly 70% of the details of 20 large-scale animations that were complained about were imitated by children

Recently, the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Rights Protection Committee released a survey report on the infringement of minors' safe consumption in the animation field, which showed that the following 20 cartoons caused dissatisfaction among parents. The report showed that cartoons often involved violent crimes, dark and evil elements, and nearly 70% of children would imitate them.

Many animations contain violent scenes, parents call for strict screening standards

The cartoons in this survey involved a variety of themes such as enlightenment, story, parent-child, campus, passion, science fiction, comedy, history, etc., and a total of 1,465 problems were sorted out. Among them, there were 687 problems in terms of language; 176 problems in plot; 416 problems in scenes; 128 problems in actions; and 58 problems in other guiding and suggestive elements that were inconsistent with core values.

The report shows that in addition to Ultraman's daily plot of fighting monsters, "Ultraman Tiga" also involves violent plots such as armed beatings, multiple intimidation, arson and explosions; in "Boonie Bears", the bald character always appears with a shotgun or a chainsaw; in "Barbie", there are criminal elements such as characters burying explosives, stealing, and robbing; "Fights Break Sphere", "Detective Conan", "Assassin Five Six Seven", "Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World" and "The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation" all have bloody scenes such as blood and dismemberment to varying degrees, which need to be taken seriously.

Some parents mentioned in the interview that some children like to imitate the "weird" voices of cartoon characters, and even laugh and scream at inappropriate times. Among the 21 cartoons, there are 123 scenes involving darkness, horror, suspense, etc. Among them, the scenes of some cartoon characters being frightened are exaggerated, and the plot of "blackening" of their characters is thought-provoking.

Dangerous imitation behavior poses hidden dangers: Nearly 70% of children will imitate behavior

Dangerous imitation behavior refers to exaggerated actions performed by characters in cartoons that exceed their own capabilities and are likely to cause physical harm to themselves and their imitators. It has been observed that dangerous imitation behavior still exists in animation works for young children. For example, characters in Peppa Pig performed dangerous actions such as opening airplane doors and surfing, My Little Pony showed scenes such as soaking in magma and breathing fire, and characters in Martin the Magician performed dangerous actions such as kissing toads, standing on unsealed platforms, and hanging on door frames, and characters in Barbie performed dangerous actions such as hanging from helicopters, climbing trees with ropes, sliding down stairs, hanging from basketball hoops, stepping on human bodies to play surfing machines, climbing high walls, and falling from high places such as ceilings, and Fairy Dream Ye Luoli showed scenes such as sliding down pipes.

In the past 10 years, there have been a large number of tragedies caused by children imitating the content in videos or animations. For example, in April 2013, an 8-year-old boy imitated the "kidnapping and roasting lamb" game in the cartoon, causing two of his friends to suffer severe burns. The 5-year-old brother suffered burns covering 80% of his body.

A survey was conducted on "Do children often imitate the characters and actions in cartoons?" 250 parents said that their children often imitate the characters and actions in cartoons, accounting for 24.4%, 44.1% of parents said that their children sometimes imitate, and 31.6% of parents chose that their children basically never imitate. In the interviews, many parents and teachers said that their children would imitate the fighting scenes of cartoon characters in games.

Regarding the question of "whether the screening scale of cartoons on the market needs to be further strictly controlled", 828 parents said that it is necessary, accounting for 80.7%. In the survey on "what are the concerns about the animations watched by children", more than 80% (84.2%) of parents are worried that watching animations will affect their children's eyesight, and nearly half (47.4%) are afraid that it will delay their studies. In addition, 396 parents said that the content of cartoons is too adult, accounting for 38.6%; 198 parents are worried that it conflicts with their own parenting concepts, accounting for 19.3%; 180 parents are afraid that it has no educational significance, accounting for 17.5%; and 36 parents have other concerns, accounting for 3.5%. The general view in the survey is that a reasonable and detailed animation management system is needed, which can help parents choose suitable animation works according to their children's age group in a targeted manner, and accompany their children in the process of watching, educate and guide them in a timely manner.

The results show that 562 parents, accounting for 54.8%, strongly support the introduction of the animation rating system; 389 parents, accounting for 37.9%, are relatively supportive; and only 7.3% of parents are indifferent. Some teachers mentioned in the interview that the significance of animation rating management is, on the one hand, to regulate the order of program broadcasting. On the basis of rating, corresponding regulations can be formulated. For example, when dangerous actions appear, the words "Do not imitate" should be marked on the screen. At the same time, it is also a reminder of the responsibilities of parents.

During the interview, it was found that limiting viewing channels and viewing time is the key service demand of parents. A parent of a 6-year-old boy said, "Currently, animation resources are too easy to obtain. Just search on Baidu and you can watch whatever you want to watch or not. If this is not controlled, the rating system seems meaningless." A preschool teacher in Yangzhou said, "When parents don't have time to take care of their children, the platform and player can also limit the content and time that children browse, which can form a better connection."

Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Committee will launch a special rights protection action for animation

Since when, cartoons have become a "helpless choice" to coax children. Half (50.9%) of parents use cartoons as a way to reward their children when they have other things to take care of and have free time after school. 45.6% of parents allow their children to watch cartoons to distract their attention when they are noisy. In view of the current problems in the animation field, such as the low level of attention paid by families and schools to children watching cartoons, unclear audience positioning of domestic animation works, and urgent need for reform of domestic animation communication management, the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Committee recommends fully promoting the institutionalization of animation classification, and promoting the healthy development of the animation industry by establishing a classification review committee, promoting the formulation of online animation standards, and reasonably determining animation classification standards.

In the next step, the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Committee will interview the animation business stakeholders involved in the law, especially for dark, weird, blackened content that will have serious adverse consequences for children, and require companies to rectify within a time limit. At the same time, it will guide the animation industry to conduct self-examination and self-correction, starting from protecting the healthy growth of minors, effectively play the role of social subjects, and jointly build a new pattern of healthy development of the industry. For companies that refuse to rectify, the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Committee will consider using public interest litigation and other means to resolutely protect the legal rights of minors.