Internet Blamed for child neglect
 

I am mad at the little girl had to get her hair shaved due to cat urine.....read on

RENO, Nev. - A couple who 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.
"They had food; they just chose not to give it to their kids because they were too busy playing video games," Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.




http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070716/...rnet_addiction

wtf??? i mean, i lose track of time too on the net, but that is ridiculous. and who still plays d&d? hope they put them under the jail...:mad:

:mad::mad::mad:

They obviously got of the computer long enough to create the children...they should fry...

they have a new online D & D out now...so hey.....

they do still make birth control *wink*

I think it's interesting that they want to classify internet/ video game addiction as a mental disorder. I would say that this classification would bring awareness and help to those who need it, such as in this case.

that story is just awful though... so sad. :(

Just reading this reminds me of why I'm going into the Social Work field in the first place. These children are helpless in the world and need people to look out for them.

uh, yeah.

Put them away and place the children in a good home.

Not state run, those can be rats nests and even worse!:rolleyes:

Internet porn probably encouraged them. They may have never actually left the computer to do it.

It isn't the internet's fault, or the game's fault-- it is the parents' fault for neglecting their kids. The internet doesn't need to be punished, but these two selfish people certainly do.

Thank You!:cool:

They cannot be Brain Dead?

I definitely agree that the parents are to blame, but having seen someone get intensely obsessed and addicted to these games, I can't help but blame the game a little too. These people DO have mental problems.

Agreed.

It's like an internet porn addict blaming the internet for their addiction, not their personal depression or whatever.

Or like a crack addict blaming the crack...

Any excuse to negate personal responsibility :rolleyes:

I'm also surprised some lawyer didn't pick up the case pro-bono to further a political agenda against the internets.