Video games shouldn’t be politicians’ scapegoats

A surprising new political movement ““ centered around a hobby much beloved by college students everywhere ““ is gaining force and influence and serves as a reminder that no cause is too small or hopeless to fight for.

The activity I’m referring to isn’t sleeping in or overdosing on caffeine; it’s playing video games.

According to The New York Times, the Entertainment Software Association will have a political action committee up and running by the end of this month.

The PAC will participate in one of the most effective and esteemed processes in our democracy: throwing money at politicians in order to get what one wants.

Working alongside the PAC is the Video Game Voters Network. As you can tell from its name, the network focuses on less persuasive but still worthwhile tactics like citizen participation through voting, letter writing and the posting of clever messages on a virtual “wall of protest.”

The movement has developed in response to a long history of mainstream politics demonizing the video-game industry by blaming it for every vice that could possibly afflict our nation’s youth, including violence and the rise in childhood obesity.

A recent example comes from a Wisconsin state senator who proposed a 1-percent tax increase on video games sold in his state in order to pay for juvenile rehabilitation programs, as reported by the Wisconsin Radio Network.

This is obviously an attempt at a sin tax ““ the kind of penalty imposed on cigarettes to discourage consumers from purchasing them.

The message seems to be that there is some causal link between video games and youth violence, yet this has been widely disproven.

Even the family-friendly Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has a page on its Web site devoted to debunking the myth that video games cause children to commit crimes

PBS cites a 30-year low in the juvenile crime rate despite video games’ rise in availability, and that the target market for video games consists of adults and not children. (According to The New York Times, the average gamer is nearly 30 years old.)

Despite this, the rhetoric persists. Not even the seemingly hip and with-it Sen. Barrack Obama can resist such an easy target.

After winning the Democratic primary in Wisconsin, he told the crowd, “We’re going to have to parent better, … put the video games away, and instill a sense of excellence in our children.”

Yes, the biggest problem our children face has little to do with our underfunded public education system or even our struggling economy. What really threatens young people’s potential are too many virtual bowling sessions on the Wii.

Video games make wonderful scapegoats because once you mention them, you don’t actually have to get to the heart of a problem.

If politicians really wanted to tariff away violent crime, they would tax guns and bullets, not video games. But since the National Rifle Association is a difficult enemy to deal with, it’s been easy to just point the finger at video games.

This is especially true because, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 65- to 74-year-olds are most likely to vote out of any age group. The constituency to whom our elected officials are catering have probably never even played Pac-Man.

The Entertainment Software Association’s PAC and voting network will hopefully prevent video games from taking the blame for every ill that happens in our society.

This will benefit us, as both video game players and Americans, in two major ways.

Firstly, no one will try to make me pay more than the sticker price for the latest in my favorite series of hack-and-slash games, God of War: Chains of Olympus.

Secondly, maybe our representatives will begin solving our society’s problems instead of blaming them on interactive computer software.

It’s time to start earning that tax-payer-funded salary.

Strickland’s sense of excellence only increases when she lays waste to various mythical creatures and immortal gods while playing video games. Share your own experiences with her at kastrickland@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.

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