Free from the furnace

Remember when we reported that a Connecticut town was offering $25 vouchers to families who handed over their violent video games to be incinerated in a drive that was due to take place on 12th January? Well, that's not happening any more.

A spokesperson from the SouthingtonSOS has told Polygon that the group has "succeeded" in its program, and, as such, it no longer needs to go through with the physical destruction of the town's violent media, including video games, music, and movies.

"Our mission was to create strong awareness in Southington for parents and families and citizens and children," explained Dick Fortunato. "And we accomplished that. Our other objective was to promote discussion of violent video games and media with children and with the families at the home. And we've accomplished that in spades. So we deemed it became unnecessary to have the physical return on Saturday of violent games. Also because it would create an unnecessary amount of logistical details for us."

Since the drive's announcement, the program has received plenty of media coverage, though the feedback hasn't always been positive. The parenting editor at Common Sense Media described the destruction of violent video games as "censorship", while the chair of Texas A&M International University's psychology and communication department personally wrote to the SouthingtonSOS to warn them that the initiative could do "more harm than good".

[source polygon.com]