Now the American Spectator attacks the No Child Left Behind Movement. Funny how the author immediately discounts all of the work and research done simply because a state proposes a tax, which I'm told died in committee.The article also plugs the importance of Nintendo to kid's health.
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.Nobody is saying that exercise in a gymnasium is not a tool to fight childhood obesity.
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.
Then she wraps up with this:
There's the real purpose behind the No Child Left Inside initiative. It's not "for the children"; it's for the activists.Perhaps the author of this piece, a policy analyst for the American Taxpayer's Union (she specializes in monetary policy, the housing market, and brand loyalty), should stop cherrypicking her research and look at the whole issue of nature deficit.
A postscript, the purpose of this site is not to examine tax proposals, so we'll have no comment on the merits or problems of such a tax.
