Well, I was totally confused by what happened, and I can't even blame the show (much as I dispise it). Plus it was just morbid for me to bring it up. the point is, any given thing you can take away from any show can either be good, or bad.Oh wow, I hadn't realized. I think I found the story you were referring to. It's possible the child was imitating something she saw on Dora, but at the same time I find it hard to believe the cartoon would be that irresponsible to show something like that. Then again, anything is possible.
I mean, you can call the Ninja Turtles bad influences on the one hand (the violence). But on the other hand, you can call them good influences (Leo and Splinter's spirituality, Don's techincal prowes can get kids involved in science). it's all how you can look at something.
The funny thing is very early Oscar didn't seem as Grouchy as Middle Oscar. Heck, he even stopped into Ernie and Bert's apartment and gave them Ice cream. And he even helped Ernie look for his rubber Duckie on one occasion. I'm guessing those skits were 1970 or 71.