Video Game Arcades and Parental Concerns in New Jersey (1982)

As arcades switched to video games from earlier coin-operated machines like pinball, they became a popular hangout among kids and teenagers. Young people would spend hours at arcades feeding quarters into video games like Space Invaders and Pac-Man, often in groups and unsupervised by adults. Concerns about the safety of young people gathering at arcades emerged as a national discourse, illustrated by this 1982 clip from New Jersey Nightly News. This segment highlights local residents of Plainfield, New Jersey, and their worries that arcades potentially contribute to truancy and juvenile delinquency, even so far as to propose new local zoning laws prohibiting arcades from opening near schools and limiting the number of video games allowed in any one location.

New Jersey Nightly News | New Jersey Network : Trenton N.J. | June 28, 1982 This video clip and associated transcript appear from 18:34 - 24:02 in the full record.