Hillary vs. the Xbox: Game over

Steven Johnson, via the LA Times:

Dear Sen. Clinton:

I’m writing to commend you for calling for a $90-million study on the effects of video games on children, and in particular the courageous stand you have taken in recent weeks against the notorious “Grand Theft Auto” series… I’d like to draw your attention to another game whose nonstop violence and hostility has captured the attention of millions of kids — a game that instills aggressive thoughts in the minds of its players, some of whom have gone on to commit real-world acts of violence and sexual assault after playing… I’m talking, of course, about high school football.

Steven Johnson’s “Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter” was published by Riverhead Books in May.

This excellent observation reminds me of a letter to the editor of the local paper that nearly got me run out of town on a rail in November of 2001.