The Adult Crime Game Kids Love

In any case, Olson said, real-world statistics paint the picture as vividly as any research. "In some ways, it's common sense," she said. "Game playing has been going up and violence has been going down."

Olson said parents should keep an eye on whether their kids only play M-rated games, however. "We're not saying that games are great and your kids can keep playing whatever they want," she said.

I don't have any doubt that people can learn from video games. I played one of the previous GTA titles to such an extent that I knew my general way around parts of Miami during a vacation there; my only previous experience in the city had been playing a satiric, virtual counterpart, Vice City. I didn't run over any pedestrians, however, or steal any cars.

Though I'm not exactly worried about GTA warping the mind of my 7-year-old stepson, I'm glad that he's so young it's not a question yet. At this point in his life, he won't even come into the room if he suspects I'm playing a scary video game.

Funny thing about "Grand Theft Childhood." I had picked up the book expecting that a tome with such a provocative title would take a dimmer view of the influence games have on kids.

Olson said she and her husband wanted the title to be phrased as a question ("Grand Theft Childhood?"), but "publishers don't like question marks."

She said she hopes that folks who want to think there's a link between violence and video games read the book -- if the title hooks them in, so much the better.

"We didn't want to preach to the choir," she said.