Cartoons from the eyes of preschool students in the context of the values in the social studies program

Considering the positive and negative messages that cartoons, which are very enjoyable for children, can give to their subconscious, important responsibilities fall on cartoons and their producers, and the authorities involved in this field. The purpose of this research is to discuss cartoons from the perspective of preschool students in the context of the values in the social studies program. In addition, the cartoon characters they take as role models and the reasons for taking these characters as role models are revealed. The study group of the research consists of 114 students who receive education in pre-school education institutions within the body of Zonguldak Provincial National Education in the 2022-2023 academic year. This research was carried out with phenomenology, one of the qualitative research designs. The selection of the study group of the research was based on voluntariness and an easily accessible sample was preferred. In the study, a semi-structured interview form created by the researchers was used as a data collection tool. The data were collected personally by the researchers, and a voice recorder was also used to prevent data loss. The data were analyzed using content and descriptive analysis methods. At the end of the research, suggestions were made to teachers, students, parents, researchers and authorities. As a result of the analysis of the research data, it was seen that the value of charity came to the fore the most in the cartoons. It has been seen that the values that follow this are solidarity and scientificness. The least common values are justice, hospitality, honesty, tolerance and aesthetics. In this context, it was concluded that children use cartoons not only as a means of entertainment, but also as a resource for learning and understanding values through the behaviors and characteristics of the characters. For this reason, it is important to carefully direct children's interactions with cartoons and raise awareness about the values in cartoons.