Media Impact Study Proposed

Congress considers $90 million program to study media's effects on kids

Kathy Ishizuka -- School Library Journal, 7/1/2004

Kids spend more time with electronic media than anything else, but little is known about the consequences for their physical and psychological development.

That concern has prompted a bipartisan coalition to sponsor legislation authorizing a $90 million federal grant to study the impact of electronic media on children, including their effect on the critical early stages of brain development.

Introduced to Congress May 19, the Children and Media Research Advancement Act (CAMRA) would establish a five-year program within the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to examine the impact of media—including TV, radio, video games, and the Internet—on children, infants to adolescents. Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) have cosponsored CAMRA, which will consider the role of media in childhood obesity, sexual attitudes, and violent behavior.

CAMRA cites major gaps in our understanding of the role of electronic media in children's health. For example, a 2001 National Academy of Sciences group that investigated youth exposure to Internet pornography found almost no information about how youngsters were affected by the content. In introducing CAMRA, Lieberman lamented the lack of federal support for such research and said, "Media have the potential to facilitate the healthy growth of our children. They also have the potential to harm. We have a stake in finding out exactly what that role is."

If passed, CAMRA will fund research from 2005–2009 and issue a formal report to Congress on its findings.