Games Help Prison Guards Guard Better

The Cumberland Times News of Maryland brings news of a tour two children recently took of the North Branch Correctional Institution, a maximum security prison. They were with their parents, of course.

During this tour they learned that video games help prison guards do their job:

From the front of a computer-filled control room inside Housing Unit 4, prison Warden John A. Rowley said Nintendo was a great tool to train today’s officers. Every aspect of an inmate’s cell life can be controlled by a touchscreen video monitoring system inside the control room, he said. When the doors open and close or whether a cell has water or not is up to the staff on duty.

Let’s think this through. If some people say that video games help train criminals and if warden Rowley says games help train prison guards. Then… it’s a wash?

A view from behind bars – Cumberland Times News. Image courtesy of Morgan-Keller Construction.