Blame the Parents?
by Mike D'Anna 
May 16th 2006 at 1:00PM
By now, you've all probably heard the tragic story of a 13-year-old Chinese boy who committed suicide after a marathon session playing Warcraft 3. The parents of the boy have filed a lawsuit against the game's Chinese distributors, but the author of this article from the University of South Florida Oracle makes the case that the boy's parents, rather than the game, are really to blame.Although the article is short & doesn't give much reasoning to back up the author's point, I have to say that I agree, at least in principle. It is the parent's responsibility to teach their children the difference between fantasty & reality, after all. I have, and have always had, serious doubts about the media's ability to 'corrupt' our children, as long as we're talking about a sane, well-adjusted child to begin with.
As Dennis Miller once said on the subject: "If your kids can be influenced by anything Gene Simmons has to say, then you're not doing your job as a parent somewhere down the line." I don't see where video games are any different. What do you all think?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dave M. May 16th 2006 1:29PM
No one has asked the "obvious" question here...
If the kid was playing Warcraft for 36 hours, what where the parents doing during that 36 hour time frame? Don't you think that they would have noticed that their kid hadn't actually gone to bed or moved from the computer for 36 hours? Or where they even there?
Matt C May 16th 2006 1:54PM
Sorry about the kid...but the blame needs to be put on who is truely at fault. Like it was said before, how could you not notice if someone, let alone your child was sitting at a computer for 36 hours. Thats a little thing we call neglect. And the parents are to blame. Games can be adicting, yes...its fact. But if the parents are doing their job, and not just letting the tv, music, a video game or a movie baby sit for them and teach their children values...stuff like this wouldn't happen. There are exceptions to the rules, but I highly doubt if parents actually connected or stayed somewhat in touch with their kids...this wouldn't even be an issue.
But of course its much easier to point the fingers as opposed to owning up to your failures. But thats just my opinion...I could be wrong.
Saxon May 16th 2006 2:14PM
Did he forget to cast Slow Fall?
James May 16th 2006 3:30PM
I think they said Warcraft 3 and not World of Warcraft >:) Could've been his thought if he was playing WoW.. maybe he thought he could run to his body after he dropped? Or rez at the nearest graveyard? :) There easily could've been a graveyard near his poppie's place, haha. I blame the parents for things like this. A co-worker of mine has a kid that's 13 years old and plays computer games like there's no tomorrow. But in no way will she ever let him play, for starters, all day, or even over night. I don't even know a sane 13 year old that can stay awake that long. Let alone think that what happens in a game is that REAL.
Mark Sisley May 16th 2006 5:21PM
I’m posting the same thing I posted in response to the USF article:
Kudos. I agree completely. A games company should not be to blame in any situation such as this. They create games: it is a medium of art, albeit a very lucrative one. To state that a game was what inspired a suicide like this is, as you state, clearly to state something without examining all the facts. There must have been signs that the student was unhappy, signs that simply weren’t given attention. The responsibility truly does fall on parents in this regard.
That said, I would venture to guess that there exists among gamers a higher than normal existence of depression, especially very serious ones. To simply sit and play a game for hours at a time, completely neglecting social interaction and ones responsibilities certainly isn’t going to bring happiness. Fulfillment must come from accomplishing things, and video games simply cannot do it for. Just as with alcohol, video games should be taken in limited doses. To take too much would be to lose self control and to become addicted to something that is not going to solve problems or bring fulfillment in any fashion.
So what May 16th 2006 5:55PM
-yawn- Darwinism at work. Keep weeding them out.