That is what one group in New Mexico is promoting. They propose creating a fund to promote outdoor sports for children by taxing televisions and videogames:
At first, this sounded absurd, but considering the tobacco and alcohol taxes, I can see how it might be a good thing.
Thoughts?
No. I don’t like the idea of sin taxes, especially given how arbitrary the definition of “sin” is. Why should video games get an extra tax, and churches go tax free ? Why should video games or TV support outdoor sports ? You say that outdoor sports are healthier ? Well, then I can point out the well known connection between sports and thuggish behavior. Perhaps we should tax sports to keep down crime, eh ?
As for “outdoor education”, I’d ban anything like that from schools altogether. PE, or gym or whatever you want to call it, I remember it as mainly an excuse for bullies to run wild while teachers looked on in approval.
Sounds like somebody got picked on.
Well known connection? Cite?
Holy shit. This place becomes more like a parody of itself every day.
Back to the OP, I think it’s a bad idea. What will the money be spent on? “Promoting” outdoor sports? In what form? Most sports don’t need promoting - their professional forms are already widely promoted on TV, and most sports also don’t really need specialist equipment - football (soccer) can be played in a street with jumpers for goalposts and a tennis ball, if it comes to it.
The article I cited says “The fund would help pay for outdoor education throughout the state.” I interpret that to mean money for organized programs for youth.
And that invalidates the point… how?
Please, point them out for us.
Marc
This idea is positively awful. I can’t believe that in 2008 people still buy into the idea that video games are somehow inherently bad for you. The idea of Nintendo Wiis being taxed because kids aren’t getting enough exercise is especially hilarious.
As an aside, I also think the idea of “outdoor education” is silly. Just plant a bunch of trees and have a few open grassy areas. Kids don’t need education in how to run around and have fun outside. That’s what they naturally do if their parents let them, and if they actually have safe areas outside to run around in. I grew up in the woods. Nobody had to teach me how to get exercise. They just had to let me do it.
What “point”?
By suggesting that his point of view is more than a little biased.
I think it’s a great idea.
We should also extend the tax to books, or at least fiction, and classical music (since at least with pop music you could argue that kids might dance to it) for the same reasons.
I agree. For some of us, gym class was an hour of dodging soccer balls, rocks, and whatever else people could find to throw at us. Time and perspective don’t soften some memories. If we want gym class to continue, we need to actually have it be structured and involve education, not just the teacher taking role and saying “Okay guys, go play soccer.”
Anyway, the proposed tax doesn’t get at the heart of the problem. We’ve had TVs for generations and video games just as long, but the current obesity problem is something new. I think it is inspired by a few things:
[ul]
[li]A percieved increase in crime makes parents less likely to let their kids go out to play. This is made worse by increasing isolation. Many families do not live in a true “community” and do not trust their kids to be around their neighbors. [/li][li]Poor urban planning means that kids live too far from school to walk and have little access to public parks, pools, etc. Kids generally play in public space, and public space has erroded to little more than busy roadways and shopping malls. [/li][li]Smaller family sizes means that neighborhoods have less kids in general, and kids in isolated areas often don’t even have siblings near their age to play with. [/li][li]The rise in “helicopter parenting” has led parents to believe it’s bad parenting to let their kids out of their sight. Kids who in the past would be considered old enough to run around morning till dinner are now considered too young to be left alone for ten minutes. Since parents can’t be expected to spend hours on end daily roaming the neighborhood with their kids, the kids end up being kept at home. [/li][li]The current trend in building homes involves super-sized homes on tiny lots far from either nature or urban public spaces. [/li][/ul]
What is the solution? I think a mix of better urban planning and a change in parenting attitudes are needed. Our kids need to grow up in neighborhoods filled with kids and plenty of public space for them to play in. And they need to freedom to fill their unstructured time with running around instead of being cloistered at home.
It’s worse. They secretly reward the bullies with sex and candy.
I assume they’re going to make sure that only children’s televisions, and only children’s video game systems, are taxed, since I have a TV, and even taxing it to complete unuseability would not get one single child one iota more of excersize, since no kids ever use my TV.
B…b…but…the burden would fall disproportionately on the poor!
Only rich people should be able to afford to be unhealthy.
I’ve got the answer!!
We should tax chairs. That’ll make people get up off their asses and exercise. Oh, and couches, too. Especially couches.
Weird. There seems to be a disproportionate number of people on the SDMB who had to dodge rocks and other projectiles during PE.
It was good for them, though. It made them more agile.
Well, yes. There is a disproportionate number of such people on the Internet as a whole, because we found that it was easier to find acceptance online than in RL. People who were able to form social groups face to face are more likely to not spend a lot of time online, because, you know, they’re actually out there doing stuff.