An article claiming Peppa Pig causes Autism has gone viral in the last 24 hours – despite the fact that the referenced scientist and study actually do not exist!
When I woke up this morning and saw several shares of a pseudo-science article declaring our beloved Peppa Pig caused autism I was shocked. Of course I clicked through because, well, how could I not? My kids had watched A LOT of Peppa. I was curious no doubt.
I read the article and cringed. It’s nonsense.
Poor Peppa. And poor Mums worried about this rot.
The article claimed:
A study conducted by a group of experts at Harvard University found that Peppa Pig is one of the major causes of autism among children.
This animated movie has achieved great success. There are numerous toys, t-shirts, and many other things with this character. The question is: Is this character good for children? The answer is NO.
According to experts, there is evidence that shows an increased adversarial, snide, questioning, confronting, and disrespectful behavior which occurs as a result of watching cartoons such as Peppa Pig. Peppa is totally rude and her parents allow her get away with murder. There is an episode in which Peppa and her brother George refuse to tidy their room. Their parents turn this into a game and as soon as the game is over, the kids trash the room again, laughing arrogantly.
These are the unique features Peppa possesses:
- Syndrome of superiority
- Inappropriate behavior
- Imposes ideas regardless of others` opinions
- Impolite
- Competitive (does not know how to lose)
- Intolerant
- Disrespectful
- Arrogant
- Self-centered
Many parents have reported that their children copy the behavior of Peppa and her brother George, and some of them decided to ban the cartoon from being watched at their homes.
Therefore, all parents should be aware of this fact. There is nothing special about Peppa Pig. The same applies to all other children`s TV shows. Brain development is the most significant from birth to the age 3. So, if your kids spend a lot of time watching TV, they will copy the forms of behavior they see on the TV.
Some quick investigation discovered the rumour began with a Morning News USA click bait segment last week. The TV show has since retracted the segment confirming that the University of Harvard epidemiologist Marc Wildemberg “does not seem [to be] a credible person to claim that watching Peppa Pig can lead to autism”.
Here are the facts in defence of the Pig:
- It is 100% confirmed that neither the scientist cited nor the study actually exist.
- The assertion that autism is a learned behavior is not rooted any science. While the cause of autism is unknown, many scientists believe autism is the result of a combination of hereditary and environmental factors.
- Lastly and based solely in Mum Central opinion, its incredibly insulting and ignorant to describe that autistic children are inherent to possess socially intolerable behaviours.
So, from the team at Mum Central to you at home, we implore you, leave the piggy alone! Thank goodness we can de-bunk the myth! Oink, oink!
