Trouble in Bikini Bottom-SpongeBob SquarePants Linked to Short Term Learning Disorder?
He lives in a pineapple under the sea, surrounded by his underwater friends, a starfish, a squid and a genius squirrel in a water proof dome. He works for a cheap crab as a fry cook and copes with everyday social issues. He is SpongeBob SquarePants. 
According to the journal Pediatrics, SpongeBob SquarePants is now being blamed for making children stupid. The study asserts that "Children who watched the fast-paced television cartoon performed significantly worse on the executive function tasks than children in the other 2 groups when controlling for child attention, age, and television exposure." Researchers randomly assigned 60 preschoolers, approximately 4 years old, to view 9 minutes of the "SpongeBob" cartoon or the slower paced PBS cartoon "Caillou", after which they were given a series of mental function tests. Those in the "SpongeBob" group scored the worst, leading to the conclusion that a mere 9 minutes of the show can cause short-term attention and learning problems in 4 year old children.
Angeline Lillard, the author of the study found similar results when children watched other fast paced shows and said "I wouldn't advise watching such shows on the way to school or any time they're expected to pay attention and learn."
Despite the fact that David Bittler, a Nickelodeon spokesperson said "SpongeBob SquarePants" is aimed at kids aged 6-11, not 4-year-olds", that there was no pretesting for learning issues, and that it was a tiny sampling, the researchers stand by their findings.
This is not the first controversy surrounding this cartoon. In 2005, James Dobson, founder of "Focus on the Family" raised a raucous when he asserted that SpongeBob was an icon for gay men because SpongeBob and his best friend Patrick the starfish regularly held hands.
I must disclose that "SpongeBob SquarePants" is still a favorite of mine and was regularly watched with my children from the moment they were born with no detrimental effects.
I must also posit the premise that any 4 year old who can watch the show and immediately sit through a barrage of mental function tests has a greater ability to stay focused than most.
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