Article

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INFLUENCE OF ANIMATION CARTOONS ON AGGRESIVE BEHAVIOUR AMONG
PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS IN KADUNA METROPOLIS, NIGERIA
Z. A. Atiku1
and S. Atiku2
atikuazainab@gmail.com
satiku@abu.edu.ng
1
Department of Educational Psychology and Counselling, Ahmadu Bello University,
Zaria
2
Counselling and Human Development Centre, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
Abstract
The study examined the influence of animation cartoons on aggressive behaviour of Primary four,
five and six, School Pupils in Kaduna Metropolis, Kaduna State, Nigeria. Rampant cases of
aggressive and violent behaviour exhibited by children from the angle of peer influence, watching
cartoons, thuggery, drugs and many vices that are happening within and outside the school
increased violent and aggressive behavior of schools in Kaduna Metropolis. The objectives of the
study are to determine the differences in the influence of animation cartoons on aggressive
behaviour of frequent and less frequent viewers and to find out the most preferred animation
cartoons watched by the Primary School Pupils. The research adopted the ex-post-facto research
design. A total sample of 335 primary iv, v, and vi school pupils in two Local Government Areas
(Kaduna North and Kaduna South) within Kaduna Metropolis were used. Data were collected
using aggressive scale to measure frequency of aggressive behaviour using questionnaires. The
data collected were analyzed using the inferential statistics of t-test at 0.05 alpha level of
significance. The results revealed that highly significant differences exist in the influence of
animation cartoons on aggressive behaviour of frequent and less frequent viewers (t = 10.641, p
=0.000). Out of 23 animated cartoons, Sofia the First, has the highest frequency of 148 followed
by Tom and Jerry with 27. It was concluded Primary four, five and six school pupils who view
animation cartoons frequently exhibit substantial element of aggressive behaviour than the less
frequent viewers. Therefore, counsellors should guide and counsel parents and school
administrators to choose appropriate animation cartoons for children to view that will enhance
development of non-aggressive behavior.
Key words: Animation cartoons, Aggressive Behaviour, Primary School Pupils, Frequent and
Less Frequent viewers

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Introduction
Animation cartoons are entertainment part in life which give lots of fun to different age groups.
Animation cartoons are the most frequent and easily accessible source of entertainment which
keeps children occupied. With the vastness of the media and extension of channels, it has become
easier for children to watch their favourite cartoons on a single click, while also making it more
convenient for parents to provide their children with this all-time activity. Odukomaiya (2014),
stated that cartoon is a major medium of dissipation of information that exists in the world today,
either deliberately or un-deliberately, children are influenced by it because we are living in a media
concentrated society. Whereas previously children spent most of their leisure time in outdoor
activities, playing with their peers and enjoying different games, at present many Nigerian children
spend most of their leisure time watching animated cartoon programmes. According to American
Academy of Paediatrics (2012), nearly 60% of children have televisions in their homes and the
growth of satellite and digital TV has brought new channels devoted to cartoons. Children often
model social behaviour from their social environment, those who have easy access to television
media want to inculcate all that is shown on the television. These social behaviours can be negative
such as aggression, scapegoating and bullying or they can be positive such as use of please and
thank you and having emotional feelings. Cartoon is one of the tools used for creating and
maintaining social behaviour in society (Odukomaiya, 2014). Jones (2012), affirmed that
children’s social behaviours are acquired through circumstances and situations such as home life
conditions, television and peer group influences. Watching Cartoon can be a good thing to primary
school children when for programmes such as Dora the Explorer. Primary school children can also
learn about wildlife on nature cartoons such as the Dinosaurs Squad. Animation cartoon can, thus,

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be an excellent educator and entertainer. But despite its advantages, children who watch violent
acts are more likely to show aggressive behaviour and also may fear that the world is scary and
that something bad will happen to them (Aliyeva, 2013). Some animated cartoon characters often
display negative social behaviour, such as kicking, pinching, killing, jumping, flying and other
mischievous actions. Tom and Jerry are very popular cartoon with fictional characters, where Jerry
is very clever and Tom is viewed as a fool. The cartoon though funny, has dangerous scenes which
could be harmful to children who learn from what they see and want to apply to real life. Children
consider what they watch in cartoons are real, at that stage they are unable to differentiate between
fantasy and reality of what they watch on animated cartoons in which violence is very realistic,
frequently repeated or unpunished and so they imitate what they see. The understanding that
children have on what they view on television may affect how they are influenced by cartoon
violence and more likely to focus on observable actions rather than internal causes (Oyero &
Oyesomi, 2014). Many cartoons often showcase explosions, gunshots, physical deformations and
weapons. Cartoon characters, however, always survive these actions which are an unrealistic
message to children, making them believe when one hurts or kills someone else, one will remain
unharmed. This increases aggressiveness and anti-social behaviour, makes children less sensitive
to violence and to victims of violence, and increases their appetite for more violence in
entertainment and in real life. Pupils always pick up fights in the class and exhibit antisocial
behaviours, which are easily modelled from their environment.
It is evident that there are rampant cases of aggressive and violent behavior exhibited by children
in Kaduna. Many stakeholders, even parents and teachers are aware of the increased violent and
aggressive behavior from the angle of peer influence, political, thuggery, drugs and many vices
that are happening within and outside the schools in Kaduna Metropolis. The authors did not come

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across any write up on the problems caused by excessive watching of animation cartoons in
Kaduna Metropolis. A lot of animation cartoons that child view harm them with attributes like
impatience and disobedience. For instance, “Tom and Jerry” always fights and chases each other
all the time, seeking some sort of revenge. Children observe these scenes, accept the behaviours
as normal believing that violence or violent acts do not result in death or injury.
Lamurai (2012), Hassan and Daniyal (2013), Habib and Soliman (2015), have focused on both the
negative and positive influences of animation cartoons relating it to different social behaviours.
However, the academics and other scholars are paying little attention to watching animation
cartoons which can lead to increased aggressive behavior of children, hence the need to conduct
this research. The objectives of the paper are therefore to determine differences in aggressive
behaviours from frequency of watching animation cartoons and the most preferred animation
cartoon watched by primary school pupils in Kaduna Metropolis.
Methodology
In order to guide this investigation, the following research question was raised: what is the most
preferred animation cartoon watched by primary school pupils in Kaduna Metropolis? The null
hypothesis that there are no significant differences in aggressive behaviour between frequent
viewers and less frequent viewers of animation cartoons among primary four, five and six school
pupils in Kaduna Metropolis was subsequently tested.
The research design used for the study was ex-post-facto design. Ex-post-facto research
investigates the facts which had occurred without interferences from the researcher. Thus, the
research investigates the world as it naturally occurs and explores phenomena that have already
occurred (Johnson & Christensen, 2015). The design provides all the safeguard prerequisites for

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confirming and rejecting hypotheses. It was therefore used to find the influence of animation
cartoon on social behavior of primary iv, v, and vi, school pupils in Kaduna metropolis. The
population for the study consisted of primary four, five and six pupils within Kaduna metropolis
(which covered Kaduna North and Kaduna South Local Government Areas) with a population of
fifty-four thousand one hundred and eighteen (54,118) pupils in 26 public and 72 private primary
schools making a total of 101 primary schools as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Population distribution of the primary school pupils studied within Kaduna Metropolis
Kaduna North Kaduna South Total
Class Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Population
Pri. iv 5043 5326 10369 5078 5262 10340 10121 10588 20709
Pri. v 4778 5135 9913 4409 4569 8978 9187 9704 18891
Pri. vi 3787 3882 7679 3418 3421 6839 7215 7303 14518
Total 13618 14343 27961 12905 13252 26157 26523 27595 54118
Source: Kaduna State Ministry of Education, 2014. Pri. = primary
Three sets of primary four, five and six school classes involving both male and female genders
were used in the study. The female gender with 27,592 from Kaduna North was higher than those
from Kaduna South. The total population used in Kaduna North with 27,961 was higher than the
Kaduna South with 26,157 (Table 1).
Table 2, below shows 335 respondents, made up of primary iv, v, and vi pupils from 19 primary
schools randomly sampled from the population of the study which comprised of 54,118 drawn
from Kaduna North and Kaduna South Local Government Areas. The population was sampled
using random sampling techniques to obtain the 380 respondents as suggested by Krejiece and
Morgan (1970). The selection of the schools was purposively done. Based on the location of the
schools, 10 were from Kaduna North. They are: LGEA Model U/Rimi Low cost, LGEA U/Sarki,

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LGEA Badarawa 2, LGEA Ungwan Dosa, Kaduna Capital School, Lukman Foundation School,
Universal Academy, Hakda International School, ILC Nursery/Primary School, Zabib
International School. Nine primary schools from Kaduna South were selected as follows: LGEA
Barnawa 2, Aliyu Makama Primary School, LGEA Primary School Railway Station, LGEA
Primary School Badiko, Piety Nursery/ Primary School, Al-Aleem Academy, Greater Heights
Academy, ASD Model Academy and First Royal International School. Simple random sampling
technique in form of the hat and drawn method was applied to obtain the participants from each
stratum of the study. This was meant to ensure fair representation as it was assumed that each pupil
must have viewed at least one animation cartoon in his or her life time. All those who picked odd
numbers were selected in the study as shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Distribution of samples collected for the Study
Samples drawn indicate that primary four has the highest number consisting of 73 males and
females from Kaduna North. Primary six has the lowest, having 54 number of samples from
Kaduna South. Kaduna North had higher sample with 201 pupils compared to 179 for Kaduna
South (Table 2).
Kaduna North Kaduna South Total
Class Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Sample Size
Pri. Iv 36 37 73 31 33 64 67 70 137
Pri. v 32 36 68 29 32 61 61 68 129
Pri. Vi 29 31 60 28 27 54 57 58 115
Total 97 104 201 88 92 179 185 196 380

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Instrumentation
The measure of Aggression Scale was adopted from Dodge and Coie (1987). The Aggressive Scale
is a standardized instrument developed by Dodge and Coie (1987), which was used to measure
frequency of proactive and reactive aggressive behaviours. The scale was developed to gain
information about fighting, bullying and anger. A version of the scale consisting of 10 items was
used in the study. Some of the original items of the scale have been jettisoned, reframed or
rewarded for effectiveness of the research.
The responses to each item were graded on a four-point scale. The respondents were asked to
indicate the degree of agreement with each of the statements Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A),
Disagree (DA), and Strongly Disagree (SD) with scores 4,3,2 and 1, respectively, for a positive
question and the scores reversed for a negative question. This means that, a respondent can score
a maximum of 40 (4 x10 = 40) while minimum score is 10 (1x10 =10). In order to establish the
validity of the instruments, copies of the adapted instrument were given to three lecturers in the
Department of Educational Psychology and Counselling, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, for
assessment and authentication of each item. Their observations, comments and corrections were
reflected on the questionnaires. They certified the instruments to be valid for the study. After that,
a pilot study to test the reliability of the instruments was carried out. The reliability of the
instrument was determined by pilot testing conducted on 50 pupils at LEA Unguwar Kudu. The
result of Cronbach alpha reliability for aggressive scale obtained was 0.089 indicating that there is
high positive numerical value of correlations, which gives strong evidence for use in the study.
The frequency of watching animated cartoon was measured by adopting the cultivation theory of
Gerbner (1976), which states that frequent viewers of animation cartoons spend 4 hours and above

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a day viewing while the less frequent viewers spend less than 4 hours a day viewing the cartoons.
Twenty-three different cartoons were used (Table 4) in order to find the most preferred cartoon
watched by the pupils. Therefore, pupils who watched cartoons for at least four hours a day are
considered as frequent viewers while less than four hours a day are considered less frequent
viewers.
Data Collection and Analysis Procedures
The Head-Teachers of the selected schools approved distribution of the instrument for the research.
The pupils were administered the questionnaires during free periods or break-time, within a
stipulated time of 50 minutes. The data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential
statistics. Frequency counts and simple percentages were used to determine the responses of the
participants’ bio-data, while mean scores and standard deviations were used to summarise the data.
t-test was used to test the null hypothesis. In analysing the data, Statistical Packages for Social
Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0 was used. The null hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of
significance.
Results
Frequency counts and simple percentages were used in summarising data collected. Out of the 380
instruments administered to the responders, 335 corresponding to 88.1% were correctly filled and
used for the analysis while 45 instruments administered to the responders corresponding to 11.84%
were wrongly filled hence excluded from the study. Table 3 below shows the primary schools
selected and their respondents’ distributions according to frequencies and percentages on time
spent viewing animation cartoons.

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Table 3: Frequency and Percentages of Respondents by School on Time Spent Viewing
Animation Cartoon
S/N Category
Primary Schools
Respondents
Frequency Percentage (%)
Frequent Less Frequent Frequent Less Frequent
1 Lukman Foundation School 19 3 5.6 0.886
2 ILC Primary, Nursery School 19 3 5.6 0.886
3 Universal Academy 18 3 5.4 0.9
4 LGEA Primary School Badiko 18 3 5.4 0.9
5 LGEA Unguwar Sarki 17 3 5.1 0.9
6 LGEA Badarawa II 16 3 4.715 0.884
7 LGEA Unguwar Dosa 16 3 4.715 0.884
8 Aliyu Makama Primary School 16 3 4.715 0.884
9 LGEA Model Unguwar Rimi Low cost 15 3 4.5 0.9
10 LGEA Primary School Railway Station 15 3 4.5 0.9
11 Piety Nursery, Primary School 15 3 4.5 0.9
12 Al-Aleem Academy 15 3 4.5 0.9
13 Greater Heights Academy 15 3 4.5 0.9
14 Kaduna Capital School 14 3 4.2 0.9
15 ASD Model Academy 14 3 4.2 0.9
16 LGEA Barnawa II 13 3 3.9 0.9
17 Hakda International School 10 2 3.6 0.6
18 Zabib International School 8 2 3.0 0.6
19 Frist Royal International School 8 2 3.0 0.6
Total
Hours spent viewing:
4hours and above = 281
Less than 4hours = 54
281 54 85.671 16.124
Frequency was measured by counting the number of hours respondents view animation cartoons
per day. Based on what was recorded from the questionnaire on the total time respondents spent
viewing animation cartoons, 281 respondents representing 65.4% viewed animation cartoons

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more than 4 hours a day, therefore, were termed frequent viewers, while 54 representing 16%
were less frequent viewers making a total of 335 respondents corresponding to 100%.
The frequency of animation cartoons watched by primary school pupils in Kaduna Metropolis is
contained in Table 4.
Table 4: Frequency and percentage distributions of the animation cartoons studied
S/No Most Preferred Animation Cartoon Frequency Percentage (%)
1 Sofia The First 148 44.2
2 Tom and Jerry 27 8.1
3 Benton 24 7.2
4 Power Rangers 23 7.2
5 Dora The Explorer 10 3.0
6 Cinderella 9 2.7
7 Avatar 8 2.4
8 Kunfu Panda 8 2.4
9 Frozen 7 2.1
10 The Lion Guard 7 2.1
11 Sonic 6 1.8
12 Lion King 6 1.2
13 PJ Mask 6 1.8
14 Superman 6 1.8
15 Barney and Friends 5 1.5
16 SpongeBob Square Pants 5 1.5
17 Mickey Mouse 5 1.5
18 Tarzan 5 1.5
19 Beauty and the Beast 4 1.2
20 Toy Story 4 1.2
21 Spiderman 3 0.9
22 Batman 3 0.9
23 Sleeping Beauty 3 0.9
24 The Incredible 3 0.9
Total
Range = 148 -3 =145
Median = 6
Mode = 6 and 5
335 100

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The frequency of animation cartoons viewed is arranged from highest to lowest. The range is
highest – lowest cartoon. Sofia the First viewed 148 times by respondents corresponding to 44.2%
which shows the highest number of viewers, followed by Tom and Jerry viewed 27 times by
respondents corresponding to 8.1%. The median in the data is 6 indicting that cartoons namely
Sonic, Lion King, PJ Mask, Superman were also viewed. The mode indicates cartoons repeatedly
viewed more frequently which were Sonic, Lion King, PJ Mask, Superman, Barney and Friends,
SpongeBob Square Pants, Mickey Mouse and Tarzan (Table 4).
Results of analysis of the influence of animation cartoons on aggressive behaviour of frequent and
less frequent primary four, five and six school pupils’ viewers in Kaduna Metropolis are shown in
Table 5 below.
Table 5: Independent t-test distribution on influence of Animation cartoons on aggressive
behaviour of frequent and less frequent primary school pupils’ viewers in Kaduna Metropolis
Viewers
Category
N Mean SD df. t Sig. (P)
Frequent 219 39.60 7.47
333 10.641 0.000
Less Frequent 116 30.50 4.08
Significant at p< 0.0005 level
The results in Table 5 shows that the null hypothesis which states that there is no significant
difference in the influence of animation cartoons on aggressive behaviour of frequent and less
frequent primary school pupils’ viewers in Kaduna Metropolis is rejected (t= 10.641, p=0.000).
Thus, highly significant differences exist in the influence of animation cartoons on aggressive
behaviour of frequent and less frequent primary school pupils’ viewers in Kaduna Metropolis.

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Discussion
The frequencies and percentages of respondents by school on time spent viewing animation
cartoon in Table 3, showed that Lukman Foundation School and ILC Primary& Nursery schools,
had the highest frequencies of 19 each, showing 5.6% from the two schools were viewers of
animation cartoon followed by Universal academy and LGEA Badiko had frequencies of 18, each
with 5.4 % while Zabib International School and First Royal International School have the lowest
frequency of 8 that showed only 3% from the schools were viewers of animation cartoon.
The findings in Table 4, revealed that the cartoon “Sofia the First” had the highest frequency of
148 respondents that showed 44.2% were viewers of this cartoon. Even though the cartoon did not
teach aggressive behaviour but it has excellent preschool series which have positive messages for
nursery and primary school children. The cartoon series teaches social lessons valuable to life on
friendship, kindness, honesty, family and team work. Tom and Jerry had the second highest with
27 respondents corresponding to 8.1% out of the total of 335 respondents. The parents need to
know that these animated classic cartoons are far from educational. Although it is considered as
masterpiece but not all the series or contents are violence free cartoons.
Table 5 revealed that there were significant differences in the influence of animation cartoons on
aggressive behaviour of frequent and less frequent primary school viewers in Kaduna Metropolis
(t= 10.641, p=0.000), therefore the null hypothesis was rejected. The implication of the rejection
can lead to nervous and aggressive behaviour. Animation cartoons viewing can desensitize viewers
to feeling of sorrow, pain and violence. When compared, pupils who frequently view animation
cartoons exhibited higher aggressive behavior than pupils who less frequently view animation
cartoons. This finding was not surprising as the second highest viewership of animation cartoon
was in favour of Tom and Jerry which portrays aggressive behavior. This result corroborates

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previous findings of Yousaf, Shehzad and Hassan (2015) in their study. It was reported that
Cartoons are playing a vital role in changing behavior of growing children. The findings of this
study indicated that pupils’ behavior gets changed after watching cartoons. They show aggressive
behavior and use the same techniques which they observed in cartoons during fighting with each
other. Similarly, Hassan and Daniyal (2013) showed that watching the violence present in the
cartoons and the behavior of the children in class has strong association with the behavior of the
children.
Conclusions
It was concluded that primary four, five and six school pupils who viewed animation cartoons
frequently exhibit substantial element of aggressive behaviour than the less frequent viewers. It
could be deduced that frequent watching of animation cartoons influences aggressive behavior in
children as majority do not understand all that happens in a cartoon is not real so they often engage
in aggressive behaviour. Also, the two most preferred animation cartoons watched have both
positive and negative impacts on the primary school children.
Recommendations
1. School Administrators and Parents should be educated by the counsellors on the positive and
negative influences of animation cartoons and hours spent by pupils viewing cartoons through
seminars and workshops so as to prevent the pupils from imbibing the aggressive behaviours.
2. Counsellors should advice parents and school administrators to choose appropriate animation
cartoons for pupils to view which will enhance the development of non-aggressive behaviour.
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