There must be some influence by cartoons and animation used on children. Although in evaluating that it’s necessary to be very careful to not overstate or give too much influence to these shows on the development of children’s ideas. I believe there are two different things needed to be considered in these. First, a child’s ability to pick up overt hints of racism, sexism, etc., are nowhere near the same as an adults. This is important and must be considered, when I was a child I certainly did not understand all jokes or imagery in cartoons I watched. Secondly, many animations or cartoons that do depict violence, language, or other things not suitable for children are usually directed towards adults. While 5-10 year olds probably don’t need to be watching Family Guy, or the Simpsons, it would be a great stretch to suggest these shows are to blame for a child’s actions when he becomes and adult or adolescent. This is an easy issue to handle on an individual basis though. If and when someone has children they individually can dictate what is acceptable for their child to watch. There is no value in a universal guide line in this instance, just something that has to be handled by parents themselves.