Is Cocomelon Actually Bad For My Kid?

Why Bright Colors and Catchy Tunes Aren’t 'Toddler Crack'

May 07, 2025

Ever since we started Screenwise Parenting, I’ve had friends and family ask me questions like “which TV show is the best for our kids?” “Is a slower TV show with less action and changing sounds and colors better for my kid than a fast action show like Spidey?” And most of all, “Help! My kid loves Cocomelon and they can’t stop.” Even though it has been shown that Cocomelon is not all that bad for your kid (see Emily Oster’s article), most recently, an article came out in the NY Post titled “Kids are getting hooked on ‘crack’ cartoon that has parents ‘scared’ -- but they’ve found a surprising alternative.” Can I just say, wow! What a clickbait title! In all seriousness, this article is harmful for 3 main reasons (among many others): It perpetuates misinformation which scares parents into thinking they are harming their child (as if they are giving them crack) when they turn on Cocomelon.

Why is this NY Post article so bad?

1. It wrongfully scares parents into thinking ONE show can magically damage their child and make it so they are on crack when there is zero evidence to prove this.

To date, there is no research on the deleterious effects of Cocomelon. There are a bunch of articles from the fields of linguistics, second language acquisition, and development all pointing to the positive effects of Cocomelon and other Youtube channels on English vocabulary learning (e.g., Sintawati et al., 2023). While most of these studies were qualitative, none of them showed any data on the harmful effects of Cocomelon. Full stop.

What about in general? Do fast-paced music based shows impair cognition or development long term? Quick answer…no.

I found a few articles from Lillard and colleagues who sought to understand how fantastical (i.e., imaginary/fantasy shows) and fast-paced shows (e.g., Lillard & Peterson, 2011; Lillard et al., 2015) impact executive functioning (EF) among young children immediately after watching a show. Claims about the dangers of fast-paced shows cite initial findings that those who watched fast-paced and fantastical TV shows had lower EF immediately after watching than those who watched slower paced shows. Follow up studies by the same researchers found that there was not a difference between slow and fast-paced--only between fantastical and realistic shows. All of these findings are questionable because of two important issues: 1) the initial study lacked objective pretests making it difficult to know if effects were due to pre-existing executive function skills and 2) they only looked at EF immediately after watching the TV show so we have no idea if EF would have been the same among the two groups later on.

Are bright colors addictive for toddlers?

There is no evidence that colors alter toddler processing. Vision is one of our dominant senses, meaning we rely on vision more than our other senses. Color, naturally, is very important in vision and contrasts in color can be important information when you are learning about the world. This is why most children’s toys and clothes are brightly colored. TV shows are no exception, they also want to seem interesting and exciting. Would you say your toddler is addicted to their rainbow striped shirt?

To push the narrative that Cocomelon is addictive, the NY Post talks about how some kids throw tantrums after watching Cocomelon and not other shows. In addition to the fact that there is no research pointing to the link between Cocomelon and aggression, let's dig into what it means to have a tantrum when a TV gets turned off. If your kid throws a fit when Coco is turned off, they most likely were enjoying it more than the other shows. I know that if someone abruptly turned off my favorite show I wouldn’t like it. Tantrums and transitions are especially hard for preschoolers. In past posts, we spoke about setting boundaries surrounding video game playing and talking about how video games fit into your daily life. The same exact thing applies to watching TV. Talking about shows and setting boundaries ahead of time may quell some of these tantrums. Setting a timer like this one and agreeing on a mutual time limit with your kid can be helpful too. However, tantrums are just a part of the life of toddlers. There is no way to completely eliminate tantrums.

The article also spoke about how overstimulating Cocomelon was for kids. This can absolutely be the case, but this problem isn’t unique to Cocomelon or even to TV shows. Children can get overstimulated for a variety of reasons. When a child is overstimulated, parents need to help them regulate. Also, many other things in life can be stimulating. For example, grocery stores can be very overstimulating (for both kids AND adults!) but we’re not saying to avoid them.

And no, a TV show cannot cause inattention or hyperactivity. Hyperactivity issues and ADHD is a complex topic. I really recommend watching Dr. Russell Barkley’s Youtube channel to learn more (Dr. Barkley is one of the pioneers of ADHD research).

2. It does not foster proper awareness and education of the real research behind children and screens. This article is secretly a plug for Kathryn Smerling’s book and Tracy Caliendo’s children's book. Most of the links are to other NY Post articles or Reddit. Yuck.

This article not only spreads misinformation, it also hides the known benefits of screens. Most research is more interested in mechanisms than specific shows, so research hasn’t focused on Cocomelon specifically. But there is research into the kinds of things even toddlers and preschoolers can learn from screens!

The research on positive effects of screens emphasize that the greatest benefits come from “joint media attention” where the child is watching with others or where parents tie what the child watched to other things (Dore & Zimmerman, 2020). In toddlers and preschoolers, it is easier to learn STEM-related concepts through screens (like spatial reasoning skills) than social skills (Bower et al., 2022). But even with social skills, when the skills are reinforced through practice with others, they can be learned.

There is also research about the benefits of music and being able to move along to a beat. There is a large and growing area of research that shows how the ability to move to a beat (e.g. dance to music) is an important skill underlying speech and reading abilities (Lê et al., 2020; Corriveau & Goswami, 2009). For those who are concerned about ADHD, there has even been some work showing that both children and adults with ADHD have trouble tapping along to a steady beat and that practicing that skill can reduce ADHD symptoms (Puyjarinet et al., 2017). So if your kid loves Cocomelon, definitely encourage them to dance along (and dance with them)!

3. It gives parents permission to let their kids watch these so-called “good and slow-paced” shows for hours on end because for some unfounded reason, they are much better for your kid than Cocomelon. Watching TV and playing video games, no matter the genre or type, is just one kind of activity that should be part of your child’s life.

It is less about what kind of entertainment TV your child watches and it is more about how it fits into your day. The article mentions how moms are resorting to “low-tech” and “retro” shows for their kids such as 1980s-era “Care Bears,” or Y2K favorites like PBS’ “Barney & Friends.” But look, just because technology then couldn’t make or display colors as brightly doesn’t mean they didn’t do their best to use very bright colors. Also, there is a new version of Care Bears and it DOES have seemingly bright colors.

While Barney was beloved by millions, many parents hated it too and complained that it had no educational value for their kid. Ashley and I both recalled nightmares that we had about Barney and his weird costume. Other parents referenced in the article mention how they prefer vintage shows such as Charlie Brown. If you want to watch Charlie Brown instead of Cocomelon, that is great. But do not think your kid is going to be magically better off in some way because you made this choice.

Unlike cartoons in the past, some of today’s animated series do emphasize excessively loud music and bright flashing lights instead of a slower storyline with a solid narrative, like “Arthur” or “The Magic School Bus.” Identifying the kinds of shows your kid likes is key. By making that connection, you can begin to talk with your child about the show. Maybe it can become a fun dinner conversation topic too. The NY Post article mentions how new “fast” shows don’t engender conversation. I personally cannot get my 3 year old to stop talking about all of the variations of “the Boo Boo” song. Sometimes she wants the Cocomelon version and other times she wants a different version. This provides an opportunity to talk about tempo and how songs sound different based on who is singing.

Long story short: Cocomelon will NOT destroy your kid. Nor will fast-paced TV shows. Of course it is not going to replace sleep or meals. Keeping tabs on when and why your child wants to watch TV can be helpful. But at the end of the day, do not go crazy. Turning the TV on for them because you have to cook dinner or write a work email is perfectly acceptable. Watching TV because they want to do something enjoyable and fun is even better.

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