Dave Simon, director of New Mexico State Parks, says, “Kids need
more ‘green time’ and less ‘screen time.’”
His allies, including the Sierra Club and the Environmental
Alliance of New Mexico, aim to make that happen with a plan in the
New Mexico legislature called — no joke — No Child Left Inside.
The bill would create the “healthy kids outdoor fund” for outdoor
learning programs, to be paid for with a new surcharge on
televisions, video games, and other things that keep kids
inside.
It’s the latest in cross pollinated activism: environmentalists
teaming up with professional health scolds for their common
benefit. According to Richard Louv, chairman
of the Children & Nature Network, the “rapid increase in
childhood obesity” is leading “many health-care leaders to worry
that the current generation of children may be the first since
World War II to die at an earlier age than their parents. Getting
kids outdoors more, riding bikes, running, swimming — and,
especially, experiencing nature directly — could serve as an
antidote to much of what ails the young.”
All it will take is a small surcharge to turn that all around.
The coalition claims this bill will single handedly “increase student
standardized test scores and grade point averages, reduce
discipline problems, improve attendance rates, build citizenry
skills and resource stewardship ethics, improve conflict resolution
and problem-solving skills, and increase teacher job
satisfaction.”
It will also end the Iraq war and vanquish the common cold.
FIRST OFF, anyone who tells you that a tax increase will be just
great for the good citizens of New Mexico has probably been
wandering in the desert a bit too long. The data on New Mexico’s
tax burden tell an interesting story: New Mexicans have been struggling to
keep their taxes low. Although the state ranks below the national
average in terms of state and local tax burdens, many of its taxes
are quite burdensome for the southwest region.
Neighboring Texas has no statewide income tax, while Colorado
has a lower personal income tax and sales tax rates. The state also
imposes a devastating form of Gross Receipts Tax on services to
make it less attractive than Arizona. Overall, its tax policy has
often put it at a competitive disadvantage to states surrounding
it, and this new 1 percent add-on tax to video products will add
capriciousness to that reputation.
Fiscal arguments aside, what about the concerns about kids’
health and their appreciation of the great outdoors? Interestingly,
physical education teachers have had demonstrated success by using
indoor play as a reliable way to fight obesity in schools across
the country, using the same tools that the No Child Left Insiders
want to tax.
That’s right, the popular Dance Dance Revolution and
even Nintendo Wii games have been incorporated into P.E. classrooms
to promote physical activity. The American Academy of Pediatrics
conducted a study of this phenomenon published in the journal
Pediatrics, with some fascinating
findings.
Researchers examined the energy expenditure by children in a
number of situations and found that Dance Revolution
encouraged an increase of 382 calories more per hour over their
Resting Energy Expenditure (i.e., sitting on a couch, watching
television). The effect was even more profound in overweight
participants. The study concluded that “activity-promoting video
games can increase screen-associated energy expenditure
dramatically.”
Brandeis University even offers a class in Dance Revolution touting it
as, “aerobic in nature.” According to the school, playing the game
“can burn as many calories as a Stairmaster or jogging.”
RATHER THAN FIGHTING video games, wouldn’t it be a better idea for
schools to use them to encourage kids to keep the weight off while
doing what they already want to do? The great outdoors is never
going to be everybody’s bag, after all.
One thing Director Simon neglected to mention is that a lot of
that “green time” that he’s promoting will actually turn out to be
“screen time.” A good deal of positive learning about the outdoors
will consist of that old standby for when the coach was having a
bad day: sitting in a classroom and watching movies.
That might be great for environmental awareness, which explains
why the green groups are so interested in promoting this issue, but
it will do precious for childhood obesity. According to a UK-based study of similar programs, they tend to
change kids’ attitudes, not their outdoor behavior.
There’s the real purpose behind the No Child Left Inside
initiative. It’s not “for the children”; it’s for the
activists.
