Parents of the Year

Kynisk Sokol

Ancient Mariner
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,289331,00.html

http://www.rgj.com/blogs/crime/2007/06/starving-children-and-their-parents.html

RENO, Nev. — A couple authorities say were so obsessed with the Internet and video games that they left their babies starving and suffering other health problems have pleaded guilty to child neglect.

The children of Michael and Iana Straw, a boy age 22 months and a girl age 11 months, were severely malnourished and near death last month when doctors saw them after social workers took them to a hospital, authorities said. Both children are doing well and gaining weight in foster care, prosecutor Kelli Ann Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Michael Straw, 25, and Iana Straw, 23, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts each of child neglect. Each faces a maximum 12-year prison sentence.

Viloria said the Reno couple were too distracted by online video games, mainly the fantasy role-playing "Dungeons & Dragons" series, to give their children proper care.

Proof that birthgiving should be licensed.
 
I love how people always pull up "D&D" in cases like this.  It's always going to hit the front page.

Regardless, these folks should be hung by their mouse cords.  This is disgusting and there is no excuse.  I like video games but I can most certainly live without them.
 
LooseCannon said:
I love how people always pull up "D&D" in cases like this.  It's always going to hit the front page.

Regardless, these folks should be hung by their mouse cords.  This is disgusting and there is no excuse.  I like video games but I can most certainly live without them.

Yeah, cardboard boxes and sticks and all that... :p

Simply put, some people are just too selfish, lazy or stupid to be allowed to care for any living thing.
 
Thats real smart, if you plan to have children just leave them there and they'll be okay? Be responsible, parents. Be it internet or ANYTHING that keeps you from loving your flesh and blood.
 
char_da_harlot said:
I hate it when reporters use an excuse for someones stupidity.  The bottom line is D&D had nothing to do with this!  The parents are just IDIOTS with a real sick sense of judgement.  Can't CRAZY just be flipping CRAZY!  I mean what happen to just being CRAZY?

They said MAINLY the game D&D, Jesus Christ, don't flip out, the game is fucking irrelevant, I'm sure had they mentioned World of Warcraft the response would have been similar. They were merely using it as an example, not a scapegoat, reason or object of blame... good God.
 
The reason why the parents neglected their children is not because they are stupid. Trying to wash a kid in a washing machine and drying it in a microwave would be stupid. Feeding a kid with air would be stupid. The parents were irresponsible and addicted. Addiction is a disease, and it has nothing to do with being stupid or not.

Of course the type of game they were playing plays a role. It doesn't play a role if it is called "Dungeons And Dragons" or "Warcraft", but it plays a role that online, multiplayer or whatever games are highly addictive and distract people from necessary chores. Not doing your homework over an online game is a more frequent and harmless case. However, people have been known to play theirselves to death with these games; moreover, the case of child neglection over a computer game is nothing new either.

Before you bring out the tired "but there not baning cars cuz of teh traffick ded either lol" argument, let me state that I am perfectly aware of the fact that the vast majority of players of said computer games are perfectly healthy, lead a good life and have had nothing worse than the typical "oops, I've played till 2 AM" type of addiction. Those running risk of addiction are mostly people who have a labile personality and/or no sicial life. Of course it be would unfair to the "normal" people if this type of game was banned. I know people neglect themselves or other people over various other activities. The Warcraft body count is probably not even comparable to that of bodybuilding or decoding. And of course, computer games are being used as scapegoats by the media, most probably because they are popular with the youth and many adults don't know what is going on in the virtual world and thus are afraid of it.

Nevertheless, I think that, in all defense of online gaming and whatever, people should admit that this sort of addiction exists and that it has the potential of being lethal to either the addicted or, as in this case, other people.
 
Well said Perun, it is ourselves who should take responsibility in everything we do. Video games won't kill people, we kill ourselves with our own
self discipline. Scapegoat or no scapegoat, the thing here is responsibility.
 
He's Mexican Perun, we have mood swings...:p

Honestly, I second what Perun said. If only because I'm too lazy to write a response of my own. :innocent:
 
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