Proposed Tax Levy Would Go to Mental Health Provisions in Schools
Shortly after Trump suggested that violent video games could be responsible for mass shootings, a Rhode Island representative has proposed a tax levy for M-rated video games. This tax increase would go toward funding mental health provisions in schools
The representative, Robert Nardolillo, is a Republican member for the Rhode Island State House. He has plans to increase tax on games with M ratings or higher by 10 percent.
“There is evidence that children exposed to violent video games at a young age tend to act more aggressively than those who are not,” Nardolillo said, although he provided no sources to back his statement. “The bill would give schools the additional resources needed to help students deal with that aggression in a positive way.”
“Our goal is to make every school in Rhode Island a safe and calm place for students to learn,” he added. “By offering children resources to manage their aggression today, we can ensure a more peaceful tomorrow.”
Yesterday, Trump suggested that “that the level of violence on video games is really shaping young people’s thoughts,” before targeting violent movies.
“And then you go the further step and that’s the movies. You see these movies, they’re so violent and yet a kid is able to see the movie if sex isn’t involved…but killing is involved and maybe they have to put a rating system for that.”
Last week, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin suggested that violent video games “celebrate slaughtering of people.”
“There are games that literally replicate and give people the ability to score points for doing the same thing that these students are doing inside of schools, where you get extra points for finishing someone who’s lying there begging for their life,” he said.
Interestingly, the United States Secret Service’s research found that less than 20 percent of school shooters played violent video games. And recent research actually suggests that there is no link between violent video games and behaviour.