Germany to shut down game demos during school hours

In an attempt to curb juvenile delinquency, German authorities are taking steps to clamp down on truancy. One of the recommended methods posed is to switch off game demo consoles in local department stores during school hours, believing that students who couldn’t afford their own games skip classes to play free game demos. More on this tidbit in the full article.

If you’re a student in Germany and are planning to skip school just to try out the game demo booths at your local department store, there’s a possibility that you won’t be able to enjoy your free game anymore.

German authorities are planning to take steps to curb truancy, and one of the 22 recommended methods on fighting juvenile delinquency is to turn off the game demo booths during school hours. Why? According to Hamburg’s state interior minister Udo Nagel, criminals start out by being truant. “Not every truant becomes criminal, but criminals skipped school at one time or another.”

This somehow brings to mind China’s own regulation against online gaming, touted to be the cause of truancy and juvenile petty crime.

German police are mulling over the possibility of asking department stores switch off their demo gaming consoles on weekdays, and turn them on again on three in the afternoon. According to authorities, many teenagers who couldn’t afford to buy their own games skip classes and training courses to play in game demo booths.

The country’s interior ministers will discuss the steps towards preventing juvenile delinquency and truancy at their conference in Bradenburg later this month.