Themaximholdstrue:toomuchofanythingisbadforyou.CommonSenseMedia,anonprofitadvocacygroup,andresearchersfromtheNationalInstitutesofHealth,YaleUniversityandCaliforniaPacificMedicalCenterhavepublishedareportthatdrawslinksbetweenmediaconsumptionandchildren'shealth.Afterreviewing173studiesinvariouscategories,theresearchersfoundthatthemoreTV,movies,musicandtechnologyachildisexposedto,thehigherthehealthriskstheyface.TIMEspokewithStanfordUniversityprofessorJamesSteyer,founderofCommonSenseMedia,abouthowparentscankeeptheirkidsonthemediastraightandnarrow.Itseemsthatthetakeawayfromthisreportisthatheavyconsumptionofmediamakeskidsfatter,morelikelytosmoke,usedrugsandgetbadgrades.Isthatthesumofit?

　　Basically.Toomuchbadmediacanbehazardoustoyourchild'shealth.Whatwewantedtodowasnotjusttakealookatoneconnectionbetweenmediaandhealth,say,childhoodobesityorsexualbehavior.Wewantedtoconductameta-study,acomprehensivelookatalldifferentaspectsofthewaymediaaffectschildren.Andthebottomlineisthatitcanhaveasignificantimpactintheareaswelookedat:childhoodobesity,tobaccouse,sexualbehavior,druguse,alcoholuse,lowacademicachievementandADHD.[Leadresearcher]Dr.EzekielEmanuelandhisteamlookedatthousandsofstudies,andthenpickedthe173best.Intheareasthatweregradedhigh—obesity,druguseandsexualbehavior—itwasclearthatmediawasacontributingfactortonegativeoutcomesinthosethreecategories.

　　Whenyousay"media,"whatexactlyareyoutalkingabout?Yourreportmentionsthattheresearchersweren'tabletogetmuchdataon"newmedia."

　　WhenwerefertomediaatCommonSense,we'retalkingabouteverythingfromInternetandcellphonesandvideogamesandsocialnetworkingsitestotraditionalmedialikemovies,TV,musicandbooks.Whatwefoundinthesestudies,however,isthatthere'salmostnoresearchonnewdigitalmedia,onsocialnetworkingplatforms,onInternetusage,onhowkidstextmessage.That'soneoftheconclusionswedrawinthisreport.There'satremendousneedfromapublichealthstandpointtodoresearchontheseareas,becausetheywillaffectpublicpolicyandbasicgoodparentingbehavior.

　　Moststudiesonkidsandmediafocusonviolence.Whydidyouavoidthathere?

　　Zeke[Dr.Emanuel]andtheresearchteamdecidedthattherewasavoluminousamountofstudiesthatfocussolelyonmediaandviolence.Sotheywantedtostayawayfromthat.Now,withourreport,therearetwoimportantwordstodistinguishbetween:correlationandcausation.Thisreportdoesn'tsay,norwouldCommonSenseeversuggest,thatmediaisthecauseofallsociety'sills,orthesolecauseofchildhoodobesityorriskysexualbehaviororsmokingoralcoholuseamongteens.Butitisasignificantcontributingfactor.That'sdifferentfromsayingit'sthesolecause.Andaveryimportantthingtosayupfrontisthatwe'renotanti-media.I'mafirst-amendmentlawprofessoratStanford.Ourmottoissanity,notcensorship.Wewantyoutoknowwhattheimpactofmediacanbe,bothpositiveandnegative.

　　YouwereinWashingtontheotherdaybriefingpolicymakersonthereport.Whatsensedidyougetfromthem?

　　Obviously,Zeke'sbrother[President-electBarackObama'schiefofstaff,RahmEmanuel]willhaveastrongpositionintheincomingAdmini