Pictured Above: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D, NY); April McClain Delaney (Washington Director, Common Sense Media); Dr. Michael Rich (Director, Center on Media and Child Health); Norman Rosenberg (President and CEO, Parents Action for Children); Senator Joseph Lieberman (D, CT). Not pictured: Senator Evan Bayh (D, IN).


On Friday December 16th, Dr. Michael Rich
, Director of CMCH, was invited by Senators Clinton, Lieberman, and Bayh to introduce the Family Entertainment Protection Act.


Designed to prohibit the sale of violent video games to children, this legislation was introduced just before the last weekend of holiday shopping. More than half of all video games sales each year occur between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

» See press release from Senator Bayh’s office

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time for children under 2 years old, yet a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that these young children are immersed in electronic media.


In the past few years there has been an onslaught of media, from videos to interactive books and CD-ROMs, marketed to parents with claims that they will make young children smarter. But the same study found that none of these claims are based on actual research.


Still, media are here to stay, so what do we do about it? “Since they’re out there, we better make them safe,” said Dr. Michael Rich
, Director of CMCH, in a Chicago Tribune article.

» See Kaiser Family Foundation Report