The great 1980s Dungeons & Dragons panic
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Back in 1974, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) was arguably the first true roleplaying game. Players took on the mantle of adventurers from a multitude of races and occupations. Each game had a Dungeon Master who would act as both a referee and storyteller. By 2004, it was estimated that the game had been played by over 20 million people.
Today, any veteran player from the game's early years would speak of its positive attributes. It was based almost entirely in the imagination. It was social. No screens were involved.
But in the 1980s the game came under an extraordinary sustained assault from fundamentalist religious groups who feared its power over young minds.
In 1979, 16-year-old child prodigy James Dallas Egbert III disappeared from his room at Michigan State University. A private investigator, William Dear, was hired by James's parents to find their son. Despite apparently knowing little about roleplaying games, Dear believed that D&D was the cause of Egbert's disappearance.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26328105
= new reply since forum marked as read
I remember my parents giving me the 'Red Box' Starter set (I got another one a few years back since my original went the way of the dodo). They gave it to me right before we took a trip to Laredo to visit family.
I recall reading the books on the way down there and then trying to find someone to play with. It didn't work out since those that would have enjoyed it were too busy too, and the others like my grand mother and great aunts couldn't get the concept. It mainly had to do with the dice.
I heard a lot of 'These are the weirdest dice I've ever seen'. 
To be honest I was surprised they even knew what 'regular' dice looked like since in the words of my father: "They didn't have dice in Laredo back then" (You con substitute anything in for dice, including things like books, dirt, roads...)
Thanks for posting the link, this was a fun trip back to my youth. 
