Bill Text: CA AB2662 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: State government: Office of Planning and Research: electronic media: child development.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-05-25 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2662 Detail]
Download: California-2017-AB2662-Amended.html
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Amended
IN
Assembly
March 23, 2018 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
March 15, 2018 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION
| Assembly Bill | No. 2662 |
| Introduced by Assembly Member Chau |
February 15, 2018 |
An act to add Section 65040.16 to the Government Code, relating to state government, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2662, as amended, Chau.
State government: Office of Planning and Research: electronic media: child development.
Existing law establishes in the Governor’s Office the Office of Planning and Research to serve the Governor and his or her Cabinet as staff for long-range planning and research, and to constitute the comprehensive state planning agency. Existing law requires the office to accept and allocate or expend grants and gifts from any source, public or private, for the purpose of state planning and to undertake other planning and coordinating activities that will implement the policy and intent of the Legislature, as specified.
This bill would require the Office of Planning and Research to enter into appropriate arrangements with relevant state agencies to establish an independent panel of experts to review, synthesize, and report on research, theory, and applications in the social, behavioral, and biological sciences and to establish research
priorities regarding the positive and negative roles and impacts of electronic media use, and exposure to its content and the medium on youth, as specified. The bill would require the office, during the first year in which the panel is implementing these duties, to provide for the conduct of initial pilot projects to supplement and inform the panel in its work. The bill would require the office to develop and implement a grant program that funds additional research determined to be necessary by the panel concerning the role and impact of electronic media in the cognitive, physical, and social-emotional development of children and adolescents. The bill would require the panel, on or before December 31, 2022, to prepare and submit a report or reports to the Legislature that, among other things, summarizes the empirical evidence and other results produced by the research conducted pursuant to these provisions, and makes recommendations on how scientific evidence and knowledge may be used to improve the healthy
developmental and learning capacities of children and adolescents. Contingent upon receipt by the office of $5,000,000 in contributions for the purpose of implementing these provisions from philanthropic organizations, companies, or private donors, the bill would continuously appropriate that amount to the office for the purpose of implementing these provisions from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2022, inclusive.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: YES Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) Little research has been conducted on digital addiction, distraction, well-being, and problematic technology use to examine the positive and negative aspects of the digital technology revolution, and to explore the effects of feeling pressured to remain connected and current technology design practices. In the digital technology revolution, little research has been conducted on problematic technology use and the associated
negative effects on children’s cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development. Additionally, little research has been conducted on how to use technology to support healthy development.
(b) The rapid rise of technology and digital device use among children and adolescents has created a pressing need to expand research into the health consequences of digital addiction and problematic technology use. problematic technology use and possible digital addictions.
(c) Today, 98 percent of children under eight years of age in America have access to a mobile device at home, a rapid increase from just over 50
percent in 2011. 2011 (Common Sense Media, 2017). The average amount of time children under eight years of age spend with mobile devices each day has tripled twice in the same time period, period (Common Sense Media, 2017), and 78 percent of teens check their digital devices at least hourly. hourly (Felt and Rob, 2016).
(d) The very features that capture children’s attention are taking a toll on their physical and mental health and their role as vibrant digital citizens. Studies report that 48 percent of teens who spend more than five hours a day on electronic devices report at least one suicide-related outcome, outcome (Twenge, Joiner, Rogers, and Martin, 2017), cyberbullying affects up to an estimated 40 percent of children, children (Kowalski, Giumetti, Schroeder, and Lattanner, 2014), 50 percent of teens feel addicted to their
mobile device,
device (Common Sense Media, 2016), and that the brains of youth diagnosed with Internet addiction show significantly less gray matter density, associated with planning, decisionmaking, and impulse control. control (Zhou, Lin, Du, Qin, Zhao, Xu, and Lei, 2011). A study of two-year-old children also found that body mass index (BMI) increases for every hour per week of media consumed. consumed (Wen, Baur, Rissel, Xu, and Simpson, 2014).
(e) There are serious concerns that devices can
significantly disrupt parent-child interactions that are critical to healthy child development.
(f) A study from the University of Missouri reported that measurable increases in stress can be recorded when people have their smartphones taken away and other studies have demonstrated that the presence of a smartphone, even when off, can reduce cognitive capacity and tax impact an individual’s attention (Ward, Duke, Gneezy & Gneezy, and Bos, 2017).
(g) The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM–5, identified Internet Gaming Disorder, which includes compulsive and personally harmful uses of technology, as a condition of interest warranting additional research.
SEC. 2.
Section 65040.16 is added to the Government Code, to read:65040.16.
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to authorize funding for the establishment of a program to study the role and impact of electronic media in the development of children. Specifically, the Office of Planning and Research, through grant programs, shall do both of the following as provided in this section:(1) Examine the role and impact of electronic media in children’s and adolescents’ cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and behavioral development.
(2) Provide for a report or reports to the Legislature containing the empirical evidence and other results produced by the research funded through
grants under this section.
(b) The Office of Planning and Research shall enter into appropriate arrangements with relevant state agencies to establish an independent panel of experts to review, synthesize, and report on research, theory, and applications in the social, behavioral, and biological sciences and to establish research priorities regarding the positive and negative roles and impacts of electronic media use, including television, motion pictures, DVDs, augmented and virtual reality, interactive video games, artificial intelligence, mobile devices or cell phones, and the Internet, including social media, and exposure to that content and medium on youth, in the following core areas of child and adolescent development:
(1) The role and impact of media use and exposure in the development
of children and adolescents within cognitive areas including, but not limited to, language development, executive
functioning, attention problem solving skills such as the ability to conduct multiple tasks or to multitask, critical thinking, visual and spatial skills, literacy, and other learning abilities.
(2) The impact of early technology use on developmental trajectories.
(2)
(3) The role and impact of media use and exposure on children’s and adolescents’ physical development and health behaviors, including diet, exercise, sleeping and eating
routines,
sexual activity, access to health tools, and other areas of physical development.
(3)
(4) The influence of media on children’s and adolescents’ social-emotional competencies, including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and decisionmaking, as well as outcomes such as depression and anxiety.
(c) During the first year in which the panel is implementing subdivision (b), the office shall provide for the conduct of initial pilot projects to supplement and
inform the panel in its work. The pilot projects shall consider the role of media exposure on cognitive and social-emotional development during infancy and early childhood, and on the development of childhood and adolescent sleep patterns and obesity, particularly as a function of media advertising and sedentary lifestyles when paired with heavy media use and other excessive use of digital technologies, or the pilot projects shall instead consider the adverse impact of platform development and excessive media consumption on incidents of addiction, depression, social-emotional development, and bullying media consumption on social-emotional development, including, but not limited to, negative outcomes such as addiction, depression, anxiety, bullying, and
harassment.
(d) The office shall develop and implement a grant program that funds additional research determined to be necessary by the panel concerning the role and impact of electronic media in the cognitive, physical, and social-emotional development of children and adolescents with a particular focus on the impact of factors such as media content, format, platform development, length of exposure, the age of a child or adolescent, and the nature of parental involvement. The grant program shall include extramural and intramural research and shall support collaborative efforts to link the research to other research investigations of early child health and development.
(e) In order to be eligible to receive any grant funds that are made available by the office for the purposes of
funding research pursuant to subdivision (d), an entity shall prepare and submit an application at the time, and in the manner and containing that information, as the office may require, and agree to use amounts received under the grant pursuant to guidelines developed by the office pursuant to its consultations with experts to carry out activities that establish or implement a research program relating to the effects of media on children and adolescents in the areas of:
(1) Television.
(2) Motion pictures.
(3) DVDs.
(4) Interactive video games.
(5) Virtual and augmented reality.
(6) The Internet.
(7) Social media.
(8) Mobile devices and cell phones.
(f) On or before December 31, 2022, the panel established by office pursuant to subdivision (b) shall prepare and submit a report or reports to the Legislature that does all of the following:
(1) Summarizes the empirical evidence and other results produced by the research performed pursuant to this section in a manner that can be understood by the general public.
(2) Places the evidence in context with other evidence and knowledge generated by the scientific
community that address the same or related topics.
(3) Discusses the implications of the collective body of scientific evidence and knowledge regarding the role and impact of electronic media on children and adolescents.
(4) Makes recommendations on how scientific evidence and knowledge may be used to improve the healthy developmental and learning capacities of children and adolescents.
(g) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
subdivision (f) is inoperative on December 31, 2026, pursuant to Section 10231.5.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (f) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795.
