Yesterday the U.S. Senate passed a bill that requires that a study be done to see if any type of media that is shown via a screen - such as computers, television and video games - is having a detrimental effect on the cognitive development of children.
The bill, which was sponsored by Senators Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sam Brownback, R-Kan., among others, is called The Children and Media Research Advancement Act. 
The National Academy of Sciences, along with the CDC, will look into existing research and develop new research preferences.
Included in the bill will be the issuance of grants over a period of six years for those involved with the impact of media on a child's overall development.
Sen. Joe Lieberman
Joe Lieberman said, "No one is looking out, in a systematic way, for the cumulative impact of today's newer electronic media on our children, the questions about the effects—positive or negative—of media on our children's health, education and development are too important to go unasked and unanswered."
A recent report found that with children from 2 to 18 are spending an average of 5.5 hours a day with all the media combined. The bill has been sparked because of concerns over the fast-expanding media outlets and no information on who it is affecting the lives of children in reference to health, education and development.
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