Some of the fiercest opponents to the videogames industry in the USA have received a confirmatory nod from the government to go ahead with an enormous study examining the effects media (not just games) has on young children. Senators Hilary Rodham Clinton, Joseph Liebermann and Dick Durbin received clearance from the Senate to finance a systematic study of electronic media, organised and conducted by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (a strange place to put consumption of media). As the article on CNet explains,
The advocacy group Citizens Against Government Waste deemed Lieberman its "porker of the month" shortly after the measure was first introduced, criticizing him for spending taxpayer money on "redundant studies" already undertaken by groups like the Kaiser Family Foundation and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Perhaps the research is redundant, but as far as I can see there has been no definitive conclusion reached by a preponderance of the studies conducted on media violence to date, and so therefore another study won't hurt either side. While some may see this as evidence for or against a particular position, the reasons that the research has not been conclusive have plagued media consumption literature since television and radio were the contemporary pariahs: media is consumed in a context; it is not consumed in a vacuum. We still do not know what ratio effect context and media have on behaviour.
While I have my concerns that this is spearheaded by the anti-games legislators, I do have faith that another study into this area by such a credible scientific body will simply provide more evidence one way or another, so we can move on and start dealing with the results.
