“Legislation to limit minors’ video game access has been
proposed in 15 states. Laws have ranged from
requiring businesses to publicize the game industry’s current ratings system to
outright bans on selling “mature” or “adults only” games to minors.”



CMCH Researcher, Dr. David Bickham
, said more research is showing harm to minors. “No study is perfect,” he said, but research is showing that “violent media is,
however, a substantial, pervasive and controllable contributor to children’s aggression and violent behaviors.”


» See Testimony by Dr. Bickham

“In Washington and Jefferson City, lawmakers take a look and don’t like what they see when it comes to violence and kids.”



CMCH Researcher, Dr. David Bickham, testified about the scientific research on violence and video games at the Senate hearing.


» See Testimony by Dr. Bickham

“Senators, lawyers, researchers and gaming-industry professionals gathered Wednesday to find out why courts across the country have been turning down state attempts to ban the sale of violent video games to minors — and discuss what should be
why courts across the country have been turning down state attempts to ban the sale of violent video games to minors — and discuss what should be done about it.”




“In rare situations violence from media is directly imitated,” [stated] Dr. David Bickham
, Staff Scientist at CMCH. He said the more pervasive effects were video games’ expression that violence is an
acceptable and frequently rewarded way to solve problems.”


» See Full Story

“Yesterday, the United States Senate’s Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Property Rights
held a hearing designed to publicly discuss the issue of laws restricting game sales. The hearing saw two panels of
four testify on the impact violent video games have on children, including Dr. David Bickham
, Staff Scientist at CMCH.




“After citing several studies that linked violent media to aggressive behavior, Bickham declared, “There are reasons to believe that the influences of violent video games are stronger than those of other forms of screen violence.” He pointed out that games are interactive, reward the player for completing tasks,
and “require almost complete attention” from the player.


Bickham continued by saying that “video games are designed to be incredibly engaging and ‘fun,’ often leading children to slip deeply into a ‘flow state’ in which they may be at increased susceptibility to the messages of the game. Scientific research has repeatedly demonstrated that children learn what video games teach, and often that lesson is doing violence.”

» See Full Story

“The video game/political axis shifts back to Washington, D.C. today as a subcommittee of the powerful Senate Judiciary holds
a hearing titled What’s in a Game? State Regulation of Violent Video Games and the First Amendment.”

CMCH Researcher, Dr. David Bickham
, will testify on what science has shown about the effects of video games on children.

» See Full Story

Recently, the Federal Communications Commission fined CBS $3.6 million for an episode of “Missing Without a Trace” that included teenagers engaging in sex at a party.

As a direct result of these fines, WB executives recently asked producers of “The Bedford Diaries” to edit out two potentially offensive scenes.

“While indecency has grabbed the spotlight at the FCC and in congressional debate, many parents of young children are just
as concerned about violence on the tube.” The Parents Television Council recently released the results of a study showing 2,800 acts of violence over the course of 444
hours of children’s television.

“The problem is that children under 8 often don’t understand the difference between real and fantasy violence, according to
Dr. Michael Rich
, Director of CMCH, who was interviewed by the wire service.

I recall a mother telling me about how she had to explain the sudden and tragic death of a classmate to her 6-year-old. When she was through with a carefully thought-out discussion, the child said, ‘But she’ll be back in class tomorrow, right?’”

“A line of DVDs for babies and parents created by a national child advocacy group and the creators of Sesame Street is
drawing heated criticism and renewing the debate over whether children under 2 should watch television.”



Dr. Michael Rich
, Director of CMCH, weighs in on the debate.

» See Full Story

On March 2, Dr. Michael Rich
, Director of CMCH, spoke to members of the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions in a briefing about
the Children and Media Research Advancement (CAMRA) Act. Should it be approved, the bill would provide funding to study the health
effects of media.





» See Full Story

The Director of CMCH, Dr. Michael Rich
, was present at a press release about a study performed by the Parents Television Council on March 2. Their study on children’s television titled, “Wolves in
Sheep’s Clothing: A Content Analysis of Children’s Television,” found that there is more violence on children’s entertainment programming than on adult-oriented television.


» See Statement by Dr. Rich

“Thirty years after researchers found that Saturday morning cartoons were more violent than prime time TV shows, a study released March 2 argued that little had changed.

The report from the Parents Television Council found that children’s shows were still more violent
than adult shows — even when ‘cartoony’ depictions of violence were factored out.”


Senator Sam Brownback encouraged broadcasters and network producers to consider the content they are disseminating to children,
and encouraged parents to educate themselves about the content of their children’s favorite shows. “Brownback has introduced
a bill that would allocate $90 million over
five years to measure the effect that television and other media have on children.”

“His interest dates 20 years to his days in Kansas politics”, when he met Dr. John Murray
, Visting Researcher at CMCH.
“Today, Murray is on the forefront of scientific efforts to use brain imaging to show the neurological impact of viewing violence.
Murray, who had not seen the report released Thursday, said that violence and its effect on kids occupied most of his colleagues’ attention.
Young children, said Murray, ‘are particularly attuned to what’s going on in the world around them. They are asking, ‘how do I get along in life? How do I behave?’”

» See Statement by CMCH Director