New Zealand Police Superintendent Connects Youth Violence With Next-Gen Consoles

A top New Zealand police officer says a jump in violent crime rates among youths corresponds with the release of next-generation gaming consoles.

Superintendent Bill Harrison, National Manager of Police Youth Services in New Zealand, said that while youth crime is in decline overall, the incidence of violent crimes among young people has jumped over the past two or three years, a period which corresponds with the release and rise in popularity of systems like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. According to New Zealand Ministry of Justice figures, the number of youths caught for criminal offenses fell 17 percent overall last year, but the number arrested for violent crimes actually rose by 25 percent.

Speaking to a conference on youth offenders, Harrison said the increased numbers partly reflected a movement of police resources to combating family violence, which resulted in an increase of young people arrested for violence against partners and family members. But he also said he grew concerned about the effects of videogames when he noticed his 14-year-old son playing an Xbox game featuring "human beings killing each other."

"It was desensitizing him to violence," Harrison told the conference. "It was shifting his norm about how he would deal with conflict. You see these kids - their hands are wringing wet with sweat because their bodies are taking in what's going on on the screen and they are acting it out."

Harrison said he wanted the impact of videogames included in new research on the increase in youth violence being conducted by the New Zealand government.

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correlation does not = causation.

Thanks.

Malygris:
But he also said he grew concerned about the effects of videogames when he noticed his 14-year-old son playing an Xbox game featuring "human beings killing each other."

He probably should have noticed the game before it was purchased by his 14-year-old son.

If the rating on the box is too obtuse, I hear that you can usually tell if there is violence in a game by the menacing-looking people with guns in the cover art.

I wondered the same thing. As he stood there watching his son play this game that was supposedly making him numb to the horrors we inflict upon one another and thinking about requesting new research into the impact of videogames on youth violence, did he also think about saying, hey, you shouldn't be playing that game and I'm taking it away?

Ian Dorsch:

Malygris:
But he also said he grew concerned about the effects of videogames when he noticed his 14-year-old son playing an Xbox game featuring "human beings killing each other."

He probably should have noticed the game before he purchased it for his 14-year-old son.

If the rating on the box is too obtuse, I hear that you can usually tell if there is violence in a game by the menacing-looking people with guns in the cover art.

Fixed... and agreed. What a douchebag this guy is.

http://www.seanbonner.com/blog/archives/001857.php

Of course the increase in methamphetamine use in NZ over the same period has nothing to do with it at all...

They're just looking for an easy answer to a difficult problem. Sure, blame the video games! Its the latest trend!

Stop scaremongering and spend some time with your son. You're a big, manly police officer, go do big, manly things like play rugby. Oh wait, that's another form of institutionalised violence, only with added homo erotica.

I would be interested in the credentials that allow him to make such sweeping statements. I'm currently in the military, which most people will acknowledge is a fairly violent profession. No matter how many violent games I'd played, I was desensitized to nothing when I entered, and it was no different when I deployed.

It sounds like that guy needs to have a sit-down with that California senator and get a clue.