I like the implications herein, on what is behind a fall in crime amongst the youth…

As a digital native, or “screenager” (someone who can’t recall a time before the Internet), Henlin says, “Technology is ruling our lives.” Although he admits all that screen time can breed laziness, he sees it as a useful diversion. “Before electronics, people were forced to go outside to have fun, but that’s why there were more problems on the streets,” he says. “Nowadays, with electronics, you can play, like, a fighting game on PS3. When you play games, you can cause trouble on that. You can cause trouble and not actually get in trouble.”

Love this kid, thinking about the problems of the Dark Days before his time when … you had to go outside to seek your fun.

But when Tom Stamatakis, a former police constable in Vancouver for 19 years, is asked for his theory, one of the first things he talks about is technology. “Perhaps, generations ago, when [young people] weren’t as engaged with technology as they are now, you’d have to go out to find entertainment, as opposed to staying in your home and getting into Xbox or being engaged with your friends through social media,” he says.

Don’t make up your own fun.  Let others make your fun for you.  Though that doesn’t explain why television didn’t create a great slow-down in crime… maybe kids just get bored with television more quickly than Xbox?  (Or, the three network universe versus today’s hundreds — thousands — and youtube.)

Or… Why drive around busting up people’s mailboxes when you can bust up pixels?
Yes, it sounds all very productive, and conducive to leaving a vast legacy for the human race.  We can extend it all age groups… the future is crime-free, as soon as the future becomes all in our heads.
Whatever it takes to keep the kids from anything that might lend itself, three or four steps away, from harm.

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