The Impact of Cocomelon on the Development of Children

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the consumption of digital

entertainment from young children. With platforms such as YouTube and a vast variety of

streaming sources, it is possible to find a great number of children’s content available. One of

the most popular ones is CoComelon, an animation channel which provides catchy songs for

kids. The vibrant colors, word repetitions and rapid camera cuttings are essential elements

that keep children entertained and focused on the screen. The results of the combination of

those elements are concerning parents all over the world, after seeing their children getting

addicted to the show and showing delays in speaking and cognitive skills. Therefore,

Cocomelon causes developmental delays in young children.

CoComelon is a cartoon owned by the British company Moonbug Entertainment,

founded in 2018. With over 188 million subscribers and 194 billion views on YouTube, it is

the third most subscribed channel in the world (Forbes India, 2024). The contents are

available in twenty-five languages, reaching kids all over the world. According to the

CoComelon official website, the cartoon is developed by experts with preschoolers in mind,

assuring to the parents that their children are learning through safe and joyful CoComelon

videos (Moonbug Entertainment, n.d.). The content of the songs are mostly related to

everyday situations, such as going to school, brushing teeth, playing and going to bed.

At first, it seems to be educational and entertaining content, but CoComelon

developers use various resources to maximize children’s attention to the screen. The first one

are the vibrant colors that overstimulate and energize children. When overexposed to bright

colors, kids tend to lack tasks that require concentration, hinder attention of activities that

involve cooler tones and delay executive functions (Stern-Ellran et al., 2016). An example of

CoComelon’s oversaturated tones is represented in Figure 1.

Note: Thumbnail from The Colors Song (with Popsicles) (Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes,

2018-a). Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvgnuPL9x-s

​ Another resource used to capture children’s attention is the word repetition in the

songs. As kids learn from repetition and it helps them to keep the lyrics in mind, CoComelon

producers overuse this tactic to make their content more interesting and addictive. An

example of this can be seen in the “Yes Yes Playground Song” (Cocomelon - Nursery

Rhymes, 2018-b), which is a four minute song that keeps repeating the same words all over

the song. Besides overstimulating children, word repetition is also bad for acquiring

vocabulary, reducing opportunities for kids to learn new words and slowing the language

development. CoComelon does not only use word repetitions in this specific song, it is a

pattern that can be found in a large number of songs.

​ Rapid camera cutting is another tool used by producers to make the animations more

dynamic and captivating. It is related to the number of frames shown in one video and the
duration of them. CoComelon is famous for their quick transitions between the scenes,

meaning that at least in every two seconds, a new frame is shown on the screen. A research

conducted by Iowa State University (2010) confirms that kids that are always used to

watching fast-paced videos can present delays in developing focusing skills. Additionally, a

2011 research by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that preschool-aged children's

ability to concentrate was negatively impacted by just nine minutes of fast-paced cartoon

exposure. The brain's ability to process information effectively becomes overwhelmed by the

fast sequence of stimulation, which leads to problems with self-control and shorter attention

spans (Travers, 2024).

​ There are also captions in all videos, but since the main audience are kids who still do

not know how to read, they are not of much significance for younger spectators. Moreover,

the song’s lyrics are so fast that even older children would have difficulties to follow up. As

soon as the word is said in the song, the caption changes the color, being another attractive

visual resource of the videos. As most viewers do not have the capacity to read yet, the

subtitles presented in the songs are just another element to capture children’s attention.

​ About CoComelon’s videos content, it does not always provide educational messages.

Kids' inappropriate behaviors can be found in videos such as the “"No No" Bedtime Song”

(Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes, 2017). Besides the constant word repetition in this song, acts

of disobedience such as refusing to brush teeth, take a bath, put on clothes and go to bed are

constantly refused by the younger character in the video. Although the older character in the

video can make the younger to have an obedient behavior, the word “no” is repeated so many

times. To the younger spectators, it can incentivize them to refuse to do their similar tasks at

home, creating a big problem for the parents who will have to deal with their children’s

tantrums. Not only in this video, but this song style can also be found in other CoComelon

clips.
​ The New York Times journalist David Segal had the opportunity to accompany an

audience research day at the Moonburg Entertainment office in London to see closely how

CoComelon videos are produced. He stated, "Once a month, children are brought here, one at

a time, and shown a handful of episodes to figure out exactly which parts of the shows are

engaging and which are tuned out" (Segal, 2022). According to the journalist, a two year old

kid is put in a room with a small television transmitting CoComelon and a larger one passing

real world scenes, such as a cup of coffee being served or someone getting a haircut with

each scene lasting about 20 seconds. Some adults supervising the kid take notes everytime

they get distracted. It means that CoComelon producers make tests with real children to make

sure that they are always fully focused on the animation, confirming that the videos are

intentionally made to capture attention all the time.

​ Adverse effects of highly stimulating cartoons also affect the children’s parents. The

Neewsweek interviewed Belle McCarthy, a mom who saw the behavior changing in her kids

after constantly watching CoComelon. She used the animation to distract their kids while she

was cleaning the house or cooking dinner, from 30 minutes to one hour a day. During that

time, Belle noticed that her kids were highly focused on the show and it was difficult to make

her children stop watching (Lloyd, 2023).

Another parent, Sierra Renae, introduced CoComelon to her child at 10 months old

and they watched it for almost two hours a day. She noticed the adverse effects and described

the situation as scary, when seeing that even waving a hand in front of her son’s face, he

would not move (Lloyd, 2023). Along with both of them, many parents reported addictive

behaviors from their children, tantrums when disconnecting kids from the videos, speech

delays, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and even autism, due to excessive

exposure to CoComelon content.

CoComelon addicted kids have difficulties in concentrating in their daily activities. In the

cartoon, everything is excessively highly stimulative, so children expect to have the same

pace in real life. Consequently, everything for them gets slow and boring, contributing to the

development delay of doing typical tasks.

​ Screen time is an important factor when considering to attribute development delays

to animations like CoComelon. A Canadian study published in the PLOS One journal,

conducted with 2,427 children aged between three and five, discovered that kids who spent

more than two hours a day in front of screens were more likely to show signs of ADHD and

behavior issues (Gander, 2019). Even though it can not be confirmed that TV is the main

cause of neurodevelopmental disorders, it is not denied that shows such as CoComelon can

lead to sensory overload, a common feature among people with autism and ADHD. In

addition, a kid who spends more than one hour a day in front of a screen is more likely to

have lower communication, motor and problem-solving skills (Lloyd, 2023).

​ In response to criticism, CoComelon’s company Moonbug Entertainment stated that

their animations are not supposed to substitute outdoor activities and it was the parents

responsibility to control the adequate screen time for their children. Additionally, the

company’s spokesperson said that their responsibility was to create high quality content to

help kids to develop cognitive and soft skills (Lloyd, 2023). However, most CoComelon

videos do not have a story following a specific plot, it is not possible to learn varied

vocabulary and conflict resolution is not a well addressed topic in their stories, thus not being

possible to develop any relevant skills. Moreover, according to real parents reports, it is

proven that no matter the amount of screen time, children will get addicted to CoComelon

and it will be difficult to make them stop watching it.

developmental delays in young children. The combination of highly saturated colors,

repetitive words and quick transitions between scenes makes the cartoon addictive to kids.

When exposed to minimum screen time, they already start to show fixation and present

behavior changings, affecting their concentration, speaking and self-control skills, besides

having frequent tantrums and disobedient behaviors. It is mandatory for parents to make a

wise selection on which content and how much time they will allow their children to

consume, otherwise, it can significantly impact their human development.

​
 References

Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes. (2017). "No No" Bedtime Song. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjwl23rk6Tg

Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes. (2018-a). The Colors Song (with Popsicles) [Thumbnail

image]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvgnuPL9x-s

Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes. (2018-b). Yes Yes Playground Song. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTOwPz-zMWY

Forbes India. (2024, November 25). Most subscribed YouTube channels in the world. Forbes

India.https://www.forbesindia.com/article/explainers/most-subscribed-youtube-channels-in-th

e-world/87475/1

Gander, K. (2019, April 18). How much screen time is too much? Over two hours a day

linked to ADHD and behavioral issues. Newsweek.

https://www.newsweek.com/how-much-screen-time-too-much-over-two-hours-day-linked-ad

hd-and-behavioral-1397765

Iowa State University. (2010, July). TV, video games contribute to attention problems in

children. Iowa State University. https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2010/jul/TVVGattention

Lloyd, S. (2023, April 29). Cocomelon and the ‘zombie’ addiction: The link to ADHD,

speech delay, and autism. Newsweek.

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Moonbug Entertainment. (n.d.). About Cocomelon. https://cocomelon.com/about

Segal, D. (2022, May 5). Cocomelon and the rise of the viral kids’ show. The New York

Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/05/arts/television/cocomelon-moonbug-entertainment.htm

Stern-Ellran, K., Zilcha-Mano, S., Sebba, R., & Levit Binnun, N. (2016). Disruptive effects

of colorful vs. non-colorful play area on structured play—A pilot study with preschoolers.

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Travers, M. (2024, May 17). Why kids’ shows like Cocomelon hamper critical brain

development. Forbes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/traversmark/2024/05/17/why-kids-shows-like-cocomelon-hamp

er-critical-brain-development/