Post: Senate Committee Approves Bill to Fund Research on Media and Kids
Senate Committee Approves Bill to Fund Research on Media and Kids
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee recently approved a bill that will provide funding for research on the effects of media on children. Through the funds provided by the bill, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health would work together on a research program examining the impact of electronic media on kids' cognitive, social and emotional development. The bill should come before the Congress for a full vote in the near future.
The bill was sponsored by Sens. Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman, Sam Brownback, Rick Santorum and Richard Durbin and Evan Bayh. You can read Sen. Clinton's press release on the bill here.
There are 3 replies to this post
Date: March 15, 2006
While it's true that media's impact on children is astounding in sheer volume, as a nation we haven't even addressed new media's regulatory issues on a policy level!!
Right this very minute CNN is cracking a story on a particularly heinous child porn online chat room sting, and two weeks ago wirelessweek.com just wrote an article called "The Dark Side" about how emerging technologies are being used for streaming digital photos of child porn, etc. forcing carriers into the role of 'quasi-cops' ---egad.
http://www.wirelessweek.com/article/CA6311122.html?text=porn\ ---Hate to sound alarmist, but there are some huge holes in our national policy if we're asking wireless networks to step in and play Dept. of Justice here...
As for children's influence via media, I'm working on a bounty of cutting edge research in this realm & could use a hand from parent volunteers, media watchdogs or allied professionals along these lines, as I'm not sure of protocol for tapping into the routing of these NIH & CDC funding sources. Any leads? I'm a writer/producer not a policy wonk or grant guru, so any advice you can lend would be grand, as I have a ton of data for my film & podcast project called <>"Body Blitz: Media, Shaping Youth” that may interest them! Specifically, I'm documenting:
* <>the mental and physical health stresses taking place with today’s acceleration of childhood in an appearance-based culture
* <>the health cost of mining kids’ insecurities for profit
* <>the ever-present reinforcement of these body-based behavioral cues via new media technology
Contact me if you're interested in getting involved: amy@shapingyouth.com.
Link: http://www.shapingyouth.com
Date: March 22, 2006
The nonpartisian group Citizens Against Government Waste appropriately called this bill a waste of taxpayer dollars. And let's be honest: there's no way in hell that the CDC can do this study unbiased. They will find a way to skewer the results so that the anti-video game crowd can find their calling card for censorship.
Chances are, though, that this bill will go nowhere, as it should.
Link: http://news.com.com/Senate+panel+OKs+video+ga
Date: March 22, 2006
Let's be honest, all of these bills would be rendered moot if parents would step up to the plate and be resonsible for raising their kids. As a nation we love to blame others for our problems instead of looking in the mirror ... and this problem seems to be becoming more and more prevalent. Just look at the Prez and his buddies. Have they ever made a mistake? Not if you believe the spin they put forth. Obviously when it comes to politics to each their own ... but look around and you will see it every day.
Just remember, soylent green is people.