Shacknews Document
Senators Lieberman, Brownback, Clinton, and Santorum Announce Key Senate Committee Approves Legislation to Study Impact of Media on Children
Washington, DC – Senators Joe Lieberman (CT), Sam Brownback (KS), Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY), and Rick Santorum (PA) today announced that the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee has approved their bipartisan legislation, the Children Media Research and Advancement (CAMRA) Act. The legislation authorizes new research into the effects of viewing and using electronic media, including television, computers, video games and the Internet on children's cognitive, social, physical, and psychological development. The bill now goes to the Senate floor for consideration.
“Today’s vote by the HELP Committee is a big step toward helping parents get the information they need about the effect of media on their children,” Lieberman said. “America is a media-rich society, but despite the flood of information, we still lack critical information. As policymakers – and as parents – we have a responsibility to examine the effects of media on our children, a responsibility this legislation can better enable us to fulfill. No one is looking out, in a systematic way, for cumulative impact of today’s newer electronic media on our children. The questions about the effects – positive or negative - of media on our children’s health, education and development are too important to go unasked and unanswered.”
“Electronic media is so pervasive in children’s lives that it often plays the role of a babysitter, even going so far as to define the cultural norms children come to accept. Because of its highly influential role in children’s development, we need a comprehensive and thorough understanding of the relationship between electronic media and the development of the adolescent brain,” said Senator Brownback. “I am glad the committee passed the CAMRA Act, which will help parents make decisions about what is appropriate for their children.”
"As parents and policymakers, we need to better understand the effect of the constant barrage of media on our children. Our children are growing up immersed in interactive, digital and wireless media that is constantly changing. We need better, more current research to study the impact of the new media dominating our kids’ lives and we need to make sure our research keeps up with the times as technology continues to advance,” said Senator Clinton.
“The development of our children is significantly impacted by the media content present in a child’s daily life,” said Senator Santorum. “Media is so prevalent and influential in our society that it is important that we understand the impact, both positive and negative, that it has on our youth. As the father of six children, I believe today’s vote is a step in the right direction and I look forward to the consideration of this bill by my colleagues on the Senate floor.”
The Children Media Research and Advancement Act (CAMRA) establishes a research program on children and media within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which will work in coordination with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It directs CDC to contract with the National Academy of Science to examine the role and the effects, both positive and negative, that electronic media have in the lives of children, and to set research priorities. The CDC will then issue grants over a period of six years to researchers to examine the impact of media on children and adolescents’ ability to learn and their social, emotional, physical, and behavioral development.
A recent report by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that with respect to very young children, there is no reliable information or research about the impact of heavy exposure to electronic media. The report notes that “the rapid changes in our media environment have not been accompanied by a similar growth in our knowledge of how new media may impact children’s cognitive, social, emotional or physical development.”
The Senators first introduced CAMRA in May of 2004 with the endorsement of a broad array of child advocacy organizations, including the Children's Digital Media Center, the Center for Media and Child Health at Harvard University Medical School, Children Now, the American Psychological Association, Common Sense Media and the Parents Television Council.
Senators Richard Durbin (IL) and Evan Bayh (IN) are also co-sponsors of the CAMRA legislation.
