The U.S. Senate late last week passed a bill titled the "Children Media Research and Advancement Act" (CAMRA), authorizing the National Academy of Sciences to kick-start a research program examining the effects media has on the "development of children". Studies will conducted at the nation's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and "media" in this case would refer to television, computers, the Internet and of course, video games.

The CDC, working with the National Academy of Sciences, will examine existing research and set new research priorities. It will also issue grants over six years to researchers to examine the impact of media on a child's social, cognitive and physical development.

"No one is looking out, in a systematic way, for the cumulative impact of today's newer electronic media on our children," Lieberman said. "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."

CAMRA was first proposed last October by many senators, including Joseph Lieberman and Hillary Rodham Clinton. We'll have to see just what comes about from CAMRA-backed research. Will the results be accepted if signs point to this media having positive effect on minors?