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Recently during a Washington think tank, The Urban Institute discussed the phenomenon that as the number of iPods sold has increased, so has the rate of violent crime. The discussion seems to focus on iPods of course, but electronics in general are also mentioned. Some arguments for a connection between iPods and violent crime are that iPods are very coveted, iPod owners are easy to spot and are not always alert to their surroundings, which makes it’s harder for the thieves to get caught. Also, the Urban Institute points out that robberies by young people have increased more than for adults.  But there are arguments against a connection as well, for example there was also an increase in crime before the introduction of iPods. So the only thing you can really say is that, just like you learned in school, “Correlation does not imply causation.”

Still, it’s better to be safe than sorry. There’s the obvious suggestion to swap out the white earbuds for some cheap headphones so that it looks like you are too poor to afford an iPod. There are other ways too. How about you don’t have to listen to your MP3 player while you are at the subway platform or walking down the city streets, there’s too much ambient noise anyway. My cousin’s high school has a good policy, it doesn’t allow students to bring electronic devices to school or else they risk having the devices being taken away and not returned to them until the end of the school year. Last but not least, you can deter theft by getting another MP3 player instead of iPod, because people may not steal it if they don’t know what it is.

Read [Orlando Sentinel]

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