Aren't cartoons for little kids?
Anime is a specific type of cartoon, Japanese style. Some anime are for kids, but a lot are actually aimed at teens and young adults. It would actually be a bit bad for little kids to watch some animes. They may contain sexual content and violence, such as Elfen Lied, Mirai Nikki, and Another. Western animation is quite different, and is not as coherent as anime plot & setting. For example, an anime like Clannad would probably do terribly when viewed by a young audience, the story is simple too complex for kids to understand.
As for cartoons in general, there's a decent amount of American cartoons that are NOT age appropriate. (south park, family guy, drawn together, etc.)
