Does Banning SpongeBob Make Kids Smart? (Or LGBT)?
- Eric Xia
- Apr 6
- 2 min read
By Eric Xia
"I think kids who weren't allowed to watch SpongeBob are more likely to be admitted to Brown. And that's kind of egotistical of me, I admit. That show is brain rot."
Were you allowed to watch “SpongeBob SquarePants” while growing up? According to the Brown Opinion Project’s March 2025 poll, most Brown students were.
While an anthropomorphic sponge and his underwater comrades may seem harmless at first glance, many households across the country have strictly forbidden their children from watching the Nickelodeon show.
It's the kind of detail that might seem inconsequential when looking back at the big picture of your childhood, but SpongeBob viewership might hold more meaning than we think.
Some 29% of all Brown respondents were barred from watching SpongeBob as children, while 64% were permitted.
Results differed along demographic lines of race and sexuality.
Nearly 36% of respondents who identified as LGBT+ were not allowed to watch Spongebob, while only 26% of straight respondents were not allowed.
Minority groups report lower SpongeBob restrictions overall. 26% of Black respondents, 25% of Hispanic/Latino respondents, and 28% of Asian respondents were not allowed to watch the show. In contrast, 42% of white respondents reported their parents forbade them from watching SpongeBob.
Brown students differ from the broader American population in various ways, particularly in academic and social contexts. When asked whether not watching SpongeBob improved their intellectual capabilities, students had mixed responses.
One member of the class of 2028 said, "I think kids who weren't allowed to watch SpongeBob are more likely to be admitted to Brown. And that's kind of egotistical of me, I admit. That show is brain rot."
When comparing her outcomes to those of friends allowed to watch the show, the student continued, “I got into an Ivy League school. They are getting married.”
Perhaps there is a reason this student got into this particular Ivy. Another freshman quipped, “I feel like, out of all the Ivies, we are most likely to be able to watch SpongeBob.”
When BOP interviewers reported these statements of SpongeBob’s intellectual toxicity to another respondent, they responded, “They're wrong. I think that's ridiculous.”
Some students reported social considerations as well. One student remarked that by not watching SpongeBob “I think I missed out on social interactions,” adding, “I couldn't communicate with my classmates growing up about it.”
Another student defended the show as being a positive influence on their childhood. One respondent believed that SpongeBob “teaches you the value of comedy and art,” while another remarked that “SpongeBob is better for the mind than Cocomelon is today for the kids.”
But the big question still stands: Will we ever discover the secret ingredient to what influences certain households to taboo SpongeBob SquarePants?
The Brown Opinion Project (BOP) conducted its March 2025 poll on March 4, March 6, and March 7. BOP solicited responses from Brown undergraduate students near Faunce Hall and Sciences Park. BOP representatives asked every person who passed their location if they were interested in taking a quick anonymous poll. Responses were anonymously collected using Google Forms. Over the course of the polling process, BOP collected 617 total responses from Brown undergraduate students.
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