What is Digg?124 Comments
- Bdog2g2, on 10/12/2007, -3/+98Sure....but only Dance Dance Revolution
- toastgodsupreme, on 10/12/2007, -1/+55It gIves them something else to do other than poke holes in other inmates with their shivs.
I watched a report on this a few months back. A prison warden was actually saying how violence had dropped due to the video game systems being brought in for good behavior. It keeps the guards safer and it keeps the prisoners safer (remember, not all are in there for murder and rape, there are plenty non-violent offenders).
I just hate to see the day when someone's memory card gets corrupted and they lose all their saved games. Someone's gonna go ape ***** and there'll be a riot. - ViperDaimao, on 10/12/2007, -3/+49G'day mate!
- theone3, on 10/12/2007, -4/+48Not all people in prison have commited serious crimes. Hell, a harsh judge + too many parking tickets could get you in there.
- Protonz, on 10/12/2007, -5/+46There are prisons with situations you speak of for some of the worst criminals (such as Zacarias Moussaoui). Not all crimes are equal though, almost a million of those incarcerated are in prison for non-violent crime.
- 81v3d07g0d, on 10/12/2007, -8/+47Spoken like a true self righteous *****. Its pretty obvious that you've never been to jail, if you had you might rethink that point of view rather quickly.
Being in jail isn't like anything you can imagine, in less than a week you start to think that all of your life was kind of like this crazy dream and you've never been anywhere but jail. after a month or two you start to go crazy and not in the ha ha I am crazy way but like I am no longer a stable healthy person way. The jail I was in and have been in, have no TVs, and no nothing. You spend most of your time just sitting there. Don't get me wrong almost everybody I have ever met in jail was a total piece of *****, and lied like it was a sporting event. But I think that gaming in jails would really help distract from the time spent just sitting there going crazy. Almost every real bad person I met in jail was just counting the day until they could get back out there and do exactly what they were doing before. But if serving time wasn't spent just sitting there being angry and going crazy you might have some people come out with some change. Prison as it is, is far worse in ways that you cant imagine. If you think that everyone in prison is subhuman and deserves to be treated that way, all I can say is hope and pray that you never slip up or are falsely convicted or anything. - Ireland, on 10/12/2007, -5/+43Of course prisoners should be allowed play video games. They like killing as much as the next man.
- TheKingInYellow, on 10/12/2007, -34/+61prisoners should be entitled to bread, water and manual labor...ONLY.
if the phrase "let the punishment fit the crime" has any meaning what kind of crime did you commit that your punishment is playing video games?
if prisoners are allowed to play video games that means they have televisions. does this mean the watch tv already? what kind of world is this that you can go to jail and be allowed to watch tv? isn't a prison sentence supposed to be punishment not praise?
'yes, you are such a good boy. you killed a whole bunch of people, held up those liquor stores and stole all those cars like a good boy. here you go. video games and gum drops for the good boy.'
NO. no video games for the prisoners IMHO. you go to jail. you sit in a concrete box until your sentence is over. you sit there and think about what you've done. you think real hard about it. going to jail is not a vacation or a reward. - TortfeasorG, on 10/12/2007, -1/+25"It gIves them something else to do other than poke holes in other inmates with their shivs."
Well said. As an undergraduate criminal justice major, turned lawyer, (and son of a former director of training for the American Jail Association), I can say with assurance that these "luxuries" are used as practical control mechanisms. It's very difficult to control inmates, and these provide additional incentive for them to behave.
Generally, I'm all for "do the crime, do the time," and prison should be punishment rather than a resort, but the officers and inmates alike should be afforded as safe an environment as possible, and this provides that possibility. - brandizzle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24It isn't punishment it's rehabilitation.
Besides, if the prisoners work for their consoles I see no problem with it. It'd teach them some lessons about working hard and getting paid for your work. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+21I think that the guards should tell them every morning that Duke Nukem Forever is coming out tomorrow because it got delayed today -- every day.
Nevermind, no one deserves that torture. - Atomic1fire, on 10/12/2007, -5/+25they let them play basketball too
- cogsprocket, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18Not exactly. The whole point of prison is to deprive the inmate of a basic freedom; freedom to roam. By "leisure activity that can be experienced outside of prison walls" what is your definition? Do you then deprive them of literature? Arithmetic puzzles? These are, for many, leisure activities and they are accessible outside of prison walls. In fact, all leisure activities are accessible outisde of prison walls. The point of a prison is not to deprive inmates of "normal freedoms" (vague) but to deprive inmates of a very specific freedom. If you remove one leisure activity then you must take all of them.
And why limit such an attitude to prisons? County jails would also need to institute the same sort of policy. No dominoes, cards, books, comics, photographs, singing or hobbies of any sort. Or even remove all the leisure related items from the home of one on house arrest or probation. Why should those punishments not also follow the "leisure activity" removal policy?
That's an extreme. My point is that there is a fine line between cruel and unusual and fair punishment. To make a broad statement such at that gives no recognition at all to the fact that just because I'm able to play a fine game of chess while I'm imprisoned does not mean I am not paying my due or learning a valuable lesson about the consequence of my action. An inmate is unable to have direct contact with loved ones, cannot go home at the end of the day, has no sympatheitc shoulder when depression sets in. Despite what the television may tell you about prison, there's much to be said about a man who is caged. He may have the comforts of home, but that does not make it home. - ClassicJBC, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19The answer to this question will depend entirely on your perception of our penal system. Should its primary goal be punitive or rehabilitative? Of course, evidence shows that for the most serious crimes (e.g., murder, molestation, rape), punishment, capital or otherwise, is not a successful deterrent.
So I say let 'em play... but keep GTA locked up. - TopherT, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19I think i'd rather be entitled to an ***** chastity belt.
- DesireCampbell, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14You are sent to prision AS punishment, not FOR punishment. Being stripped of your FREEDOM is the greatest punishment.
- ThndrShk2k, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Headlines:
"Inmate stabbed in captivity over +2 Armor of Power in MMORPG" - asianGamer, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14are you kidding, GTA is what keeps me from being a criminal
- gmillerd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Damn gold farming prisoners ...
- Tricky, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12What about Manhunt?
- vspazv, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11So I can get books, games and cable TV with free room and board and minimal contact with other people (assuming solitary confinement)... Where do I sign up?
- Atomic1fire, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10stick a bunch of criminals on an island with hidden cameras wait that sounds like a fox reality show
- PopcornDave, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Careful, you may have just violated the copyright of Survivor: Alcatraz. ;)
- Dymphna, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Yes, but only things like Barbie's Pony Adventure, Big Rigs Reel Racing, Charlie's Angels, and Unlimited SaGa.
They will be begging for manual labour. - C00001, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I guess when digg upgraded to v3 they lost a bunch of old stories... Tried to find the original that was posted months ago, but it had disapeared.
This was on digg almost 6 months ago, and at least then it linked to the article--which gave actual specifics and stats. All this blog entry and its submission to digg do is spark argument based on no facts or information.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2006-03-14-prison-arcade_x.htm
This article specifically mentions Oregon, but it's the same program that other states like Florida are instituting. - dknightbatman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8I think they should let game systems, I am all for helping prisoners ouit and what better way to pass the time, I mean most prisons let inmates have CD players and stereos if they have headphones so whats the difference?
- samnmax, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Araya: I find your comments truly amazing. You advocatate inhumane treatment for people who go to prison, a situation in which you found yourself near (jail). Now, I don't know your situation, but do you think you deserved a second chance? Do you think you would have turned out better if you had a boot in your face every morning while you were in jail? Is violence the only thing you respond to?
I'm sure there are many lost causes in prison, but the goal of prison shouldn't be to make their lives a living hell. Being in jail is punishment enough. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -15/+20No. They should be entitled to pain, and pain only. Sorry, but you'll learn to control your hormones when you know they'll cut your **** off if you rape that woman. Not looking so hot anymore, is she?
Prisoners have it easier than my childhood was. - phoenixsflame, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I wish people had a greater understanding of what's going on in the penal system, Suldar you're dead on. Whatever reforms them should be used.
People who don't have a firm grasp on what Prison is supposed to be, are forgetting that we send people there to reform them. Real punishment is being stripped of your rights for a time, of being labeled a con, of having to say to every person in your life for the rest of your life. "I did (blank) time in (blank) state prison.", these are horrible things. However, if while inside this place, this micro-environment of extremes, they are berrated, belittled and further degraded; they will continue with crime.
It doesn't matter who it is, if you are sent to Prison and there is no reform, but instead only negative reinforcement, the pattern of crime will continue. "If I'm suffering this bad, when I get out I'll make SURE I deserve it." or "I'll get back those *bleep* who got me here." etc, etc.
I doubt more than a tenth of the posters here have any idea what it's like to be alone with your mind and thoughts longer then the time it takes them to lay down to bed and drift off. Constant background noise, distractions, shiny objects and in some cases lack of grey matter make it impossible to even empathize to this position.
Imagine being taken from a violent area, poor, angry, desolete and hopeless. Thrown in with people you don't know, who hate you, and whom you fear. Give that person 16 hours a day to think...
What do you think they'll do?
Give them Video Games, make it a reward based system. Give them an education, I'll pay for it with my taxes gladly. If me paying an extra 20 bucks a month, means that some Con somewhere get's his GED and feels like when he leaves he can start applying himself to *DO SOMETHING* Other then stealing to get money? Absofrickinlutely. Sign me up. Anything to keep my daughter from being assaulted, my car from being broken into, my friend from being killed. - redneckblues, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Rotting in a box also makes you more prepared for society.... wait... no.
- kakwakas, on 10/12/2007, -7/+12@electrosoccertu
Where did you grow up where you were likely often anally raped, were forced to either join a gang or have the s**t beaten out of you (or even be killed), probably harassed by guards, and you paid for your right to not be someone's bitch with cigarettes?
F***ing emo kid... - sp4rky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5In class one day we got to talking about this and there was girl that worked at Gamestop and a local prison would come and by video consoles and games. She said they could only have one color controlers, black, and that the games had to be G rated or which ever one is the rating for All Ages.
- Comatose51, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Give them MMORPG so they too can learn to gold-farm and have a viable skill when they leave. If those games work as well on prisoners as nerds, they will wasting away their lives after they get out of jail in front of the computer. The only crime they will commit will be virtual.
- SystemError, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4In what state did you say I need to arrested in?
- returnofmalv, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6In America prisons are about punishment. In other countries, prison is about rehabilitation.
- steve693, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Get me a WoW Account and a broadband connection, and suddenly a lifetime prison sentence doesn't seem so bad. . .
- suldar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Should going to prison be a reward for crime? No. However, if they broke the law in the first place than the threat of going to jail didn't stop them. If nothing is done to reform them while there in jail there just going to go back to there old ways again once they get out. When I was in Juvenile Prison at one point I learned a few things. Some of these people literally can't read, have almost no education, have only been taught to do things the wrong way and just really can't grasp a lot of things that most of us think everyone understands. I would rather somebody go to prison for 10 years and when they come out lead some kind of a normal life and never go back to prison. Rather than get out and kill somebody etc and just be in and out of jail until they die. If TVs, video games, college classes and ice-cream socials work, I'm all for it.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6ya isnt there like over 3 million people in jail in the USA !
- neko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I've got a game for 'em: Battle Royale!
- brandizzle, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7So once that criminal gets back out on the streets he won't kill the tax payer because he's gone insane.
- Araya213, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5In reality, that's probably the only places that would have them anyway.
- stonebear, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Don't forget the wonderful sex. ;^)
- Goya, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7Oh boo-hoo...
Its not like the rules for staying out of jail are secret. Dont want to go? Dont ***** up!
Im sorry if you think your Jail experience is bad, tough. Somehow the majority of us manage to NOT get there. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Isn't the real reason for having prisons to keep dangerous people out of society? I never looked at it as a punishment thing.
- returnofmalv, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4An attempt of a more humanistic approach to dealing with dysfunction:
http://www.pathwaystohope.org/prison.htm - jdubya, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Don't they have enough to do already with the weight training, riots, and anal sex
- PopcornDave, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4While you're at it, why not get a frequent stays rewards card?
- ubaid1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Thats one pov. White collar criminals may be seen simply as theives. They go to jail for fraud, extortion, grand larceny, and other (unknown to me) crimes. IANAL, but I know people in suits that work for big companies can be bigger ***** than that guy who had an empty gun to steal food to eat. Crime is crime. IMHO, games would be nice for prisons, but the government is so bloated as it is, we shouldn't be spending money on things that can be avoided.
- Araya213, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6And besides that, there's kids out there that dont' have video games! Lets quit spending money on people that would just as soon kill you as shake your hand and spend it on ummmm social security, welfare, education, or something that will actually benefit mankind.
- Bane427, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Am I in jail?
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