Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Quinn eyes tax on violent video games
Funds collected would fund school security
A Delaware County state lawmaker is proposing that a tax on violent video games would be one way to generate funds for security measures in Pennsylvania schools.
Through two different bills, HB 2704 and 2705, Rep. Chris Quinn, R-168th Dist., of Middletown, is recommending that a 10 percent tax be placed on video games labeled “mature’ or “adult only” to raise $3.5 million for educational
security.
“I’m trying to offset property taxes as a big part of this,” the legislator explained.
In addition, the state rep said, “From a holistic standpoint, we have a problem in our schools. We need to protect our schools.”
Last year, the General Assembly earmarked $60 million for the sole purpose of school security. It was a one-time funding initiative that encouraged school districts to apply for funds to implement a variety of safety measures in their schools.
Quinn said a one-time capital investment was not enough and wanted to do more.
“We need to come up with a funding source,” he said, adding that in his bills, districts would have the option to apply for funds to use as they need, whether it would be to purchase cameras, bulletproof glass or other materials.
He stressed the legislation wasn’t punitive.
“I’m not trying to censor,” Quinn said. “Just simply because somebody plays a video game doesn’t make them a killer.”
However, he added that a preponderance of evidence indicates a relation.
“If you have a child that has separated himself and he’s playing hours and hours and hours of video games, there’s a higher likelihood that he might be involved in a violent situation,” Quinn said. “Eight out of 10 researchers agree that this is an issue.”
The American Psychological Association formed a task force in 2017 to explore this issue. Their determination was that violent video game exposure was related to increased aggression and decreased empathy.
In October, USA Today reported on a story about an international study evaluating the playing patterns of 17,000 adolescents between 9 and 19 years old from 2010 and 2017.
Initially published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that study researchers said they found a correlation between violent video game play and increases in physical aggression.
And, although the case is different that what Quinn is proposing, the video industry through the Entertainment Software Association took the state of California to court and won when state officials tried to restrict the sale of violent video games to minors. The ESA argued that gaming is a First Amendment right and that ratings enforcement is in the hands of retailers and parents.
In their own study of 4,000 households, the ESA said 70 percent of parents believe video games have a positive influence on their children’s lives.
While they report sales of all video games breaking $43.4 billion in 2018 alone.
As Quinn’s bills are in two committees being considered, he said that any logical person would be open to the possibility that this is desensitizing kids.
By 18 years old, the legislator said, today’s children on average have seen more than 16,000 murders and more than 200,000 acts of violence.
That exposure, he said, could be a factor in actual violence.
“This is a factor,” Quinn said. “It’s not a predictive indicator.”
The Delaware County representative said he’s facing fierce opposition on his proposals.
“I got a lot of pushback from the industry on this bill,” Quinn said. “The easiest thing to do would be to drop it and I’m not planning to drop it.”