The U.S. senate has passed the Children and Media Research Advancement (CAMRA) Act which will attempt to investigate the effects, both positive and negative, of electronic media on children.
The bill was introduced in 2004 and backed by Hillary Clinton, Joseph Lieberman, Sam Brownback, Rick Santorum and Dick Durbin. According to the act, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention will spearhead this investigation, while the National Academy of Science will review the research.
The timing of the act makes sense as November, election time, is round the corner and there's nothing works quite like scare tactics to secure votes. Another reason behind the introduction of the act is the lack of victories for the anti-game lobbyists in the U.S. courts. So far, every state that has tried to regulate the sale of videogames has failed as current research has established no link between video game violence and its real life counterpart.
Although the act suggests that both the positive and negative effects of electronic media on children it is widely believed that the research will attempt to establish some link between video games and violence in order to provide support for court cases.
It is unclear why the research is deemed necessary as there are plenty of studies on the subject. It does seem unclear however, why pursuing the regulation of age rated video games has become such a priority. Children cannot purchase games such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and the only way they can get their hands on them is if their parents buy them. Children are also unlikely to have access to the USD 50 or 60 needed to buy a current video game. Then again votes are important for politicians and this move might help them get some.
