Games to Blame for Decrease in U.S. Crime

If you want to find out how video games are destroying the country, feel free to tune your televisions to Fox News. If you want to take a gander at the other side of the coin, though, you should shift your gaze across the pond to the BBC, which is reporting video games might actually be a reason for a decline in U.S. crime.

The story is based on a study conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research and, according to those smart-sounding British folks; games ain't so bad after all.

According to the study, U.S. crime has been on the decline for the past two decades. This trend has continued, it would seem, despite the recent economic crumble. According to FBI figures, crime has actually been on a steeper decline these past couple of years. The study goes on to state that murder and robbery rates have nearly halved from the 1991-98 era. So the question is: Why?

While nobody can seem to agree on a single reason, the BBC reports that about a dozen factors are thought to be to blame, including less lead in our gas, baby boomers growing up and even President Obama.

Video games are another factor, according to the study, because they kept "young people off the streets and therefore away from crime." According to Texan researchers working on the study, this "incapacitation effect" has "more than offset any direct impact the content of the games may have had in encouraging violent behavior."

In other words: Why would kids want to risk committing actual crimes when they can commit them consequence-free from the comfort of their bedrooms?

Source: www.joystickdivision.com/2011/06/study_says_games_to_blame_for.php