Internet Takes Over for Proper Child Care
CJ July 19th, 2007
Once again, the internet is blamed for people’s actions, or in this case, inactions.
A couple in Reno Nevada were so into the internet and playing video games, they couldn’t be bothered to take care of their two children, who suffered from malnutrition, dehydration, infections, and inadequate muscle development. Michael and Iana Straw pled guilty to child neglect and will most likely spend 12 years in jail and never see these children again. Both toddlers are in foster care, have gained weight and are doing well.
Patrick Killen, spokesman for Nevada Child Abuse Prevention, said video game addiction’s correlation to child abuse is “a new spin on an old problem.”
“As we become more technologically advanced, there’s more distractions,” Killen said. “It’s easy for someone to get addicted to something and neglect their children. Whether it’s video games or meth, it’s a serious issue, and (we) need to become more aware of it.”
Sure. This what we teach our children. Blame your irresponsibility on inanimate objects or other people in order to take the blame off of yourself and not own up to your shit.
Last month, experts at an American Medical Association meeting backed away from a proposal to designate video game addiction as a mental disorder, saying it had to be studied further. Some said the issue is like alcoholism, while others said there was no concrete evidence it’s a psychological disease.
Once again, we may be able to have a “disease” to blame for our ills. Don’t we have enough?
I think as the parents’ punishment, they should have to sit in a room full of children playing video games or surfing the ‘net and not be able to eat or go to the bathroom for at least two weeks!!!
