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A new state law being proposed in New Mexico by Democratic representative Gail Chasey seeks to charge an additional tax on videogames to battle childhood obesity. Seem a bit targeted and unfair to you as well? Read on to see the whole story.
"I have asked our legislative council service to prepare the "Leave No Child Inside" bill and am hopeful that it will be ready for me to introduce on Monday," said Gail Chasey, the proponent and creator of this new bill. "Leave No Child Inside," an obvious reverence to the arguably failed Bush law, "No Child Left Behind," unfairly targets all the games and technology a gamer would purchase with an additional 1% excise tax. This includes televisions, game consoles, the games themselves, and possibly other game-related purchases. This one percent tax would be diverted into a special fund named after the bill, which would then in turn be used to improve state parks and fund children-targeted educational programs to promote a healthy lifestyle. With the provisions of using the money to improve park programs for the youth, it is no surprise that the Sierra Club is completely behind the bill, but the fact of the matter is that the average gamer at this point is in their late 20s, and outside of the age range to benefit from the programs this bill would support. Furthermore, by taxing these specific items for their effect on obesity, they are further reinforcing the stereotype that all gamers are fat shut-ins who never see the light of day. While there are many such people among the ranks of the gaming populace, it appears that America has a much larger overall problem with obesity (31% of all adults in 2002, with the numbers on the rise), and last I checked, Halo didn't sell 59 million copies, so perhaps it would be better if they focused their assault on obesity by not singling out segments of society that already have a bad rap in the eyes of the media. 
It should also be noted that as videogames continue to expand into new territories, there are games being developed that would actually offer physical benefit from being played. There are people who have incorporated weight loss plans into their Wii game playing that have shown varying degrees of success, and the upcoming release from Nintendo, Wii Fit,is an honest to god exercise routine that tracks your BMI, offers a fairly acceptable cardio routine, and even some light toning through push ups, crunches, yoga, etc. So I guess my point in all of this is that while I fully support government finding ways to improve the lives of our children through education, and also like that they want to support our national parks and services, using the boogeyman of videogames being harmful to the youth of this country is a dirty and ignorant move, and one I hope the news and lawmakers of this country can get over soon. Breitbart.com has just published an article covering this new law in some detail. |
