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Evidence Violent Video Games Dont Increase Crime

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by Zubin Jelveh
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Oct 17 2007 12:00am EDT

Evidence: Violent Video Games Don't Increase Crime

From Michael Ward of University of Texas at Arlington:

"I study the incidence of criminal activity as related to a proxy for increased gaming, the number of game stores, from a panel of US counties from 1994 to 2004...For six of eight categories of crime, more game stores are associated with significant declines in crime rates. Proxies for other leisure activities, sports and movie viewing, do not have a similar effect. For confirmation, I also find that mortality rates, especially mortality rates stemming from injuries, also are negatively related to the number of game stores."

Some comfort for parents of children playing Halo 3, which has "obliterated all known records for single day video game sales."

Here's Jack Thomson, who might disagree:

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