On April 10, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space held a hearing to discuss the impact of entertainment violence on children. Subcommittee Chair Sam Brownback (R-KS) called the hearing “a conversation about what sort of cultural environment we wish to provide for our children, and the information we need to provide to their parents.”
Dr. Joanne Cantor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison stressed that “we need to know what’s happening to children’s brains as they watch media violence and what kinds of lasting changes occur.” She noted that studies being conducted at Indiana University and Kansas State University “promise to help us understand how media violence promotes aggression and to help explain why they have such enduring effects on emotional memory.” She added that it is important that Congress provide funding for more research on media violence, “especially research on the neurobiology of brain reactions and on the relationship between media violence exposure and children’s mental and physical health.”
Discussing his research on children’s exposure to television, Dr. Dale Kunkel of the University of California, Washington Center said that “not all violence is the same in terms of its risk of harmful effects on child-viewers. The nature and context of the portrayal matters.” He added that his report, which was based on the analysis of 10,000 programs across three television seasons, “concluded that the manner in which most violence is presented on television actually enhances rather than diminishes its risk of harmful effects on child-viewers.” Dr. Kunkel also said that the shows featured a common pattern associated with violent portrayals on TV—“not showing a realistic degree of harm for victims, not showing the pain and suffering realistically associated with violence attacks, and not showing the serious long-term negative consequences of violence.”
In his testimony, Dr. Daniel Anderson of the University of Massachusetts said that “American children spend more time with electronic media than they spend in any other activity except sleep.” However, he also noted that “electronic media can be designed to have a beneficial impact on children, an impact that is traceable more than a decade later.” According to Dr. Anderson, current research being conducted on neuroimaging “can tell us about media comprehension and eventually, media impact.” He continued by saying, “the information gained from neuroimaging will eventually inform us about ways to maximize the beneficial impact of media and about ways to minimize the harmful impact.”
Speaking on behalf of the Center on Media and Children’s Health, Dr. Michael Rich explained that “what we teach our children today will determine not only their long-term health and well-being, but the world they create for all of us tomorrow. It is our task, as parents, as citizens, and as compassionate people, to do what we can to teach our children the lessons that will help them make their world safe, healthy, and free.”
