computer games stole my son

[salim123]

woww thats a bit much

[Der_Bullet]

thats about the wierdest thing about runescape, it is just a game, dont give me bs about you gettting scammed. i remember a kid killed himself because someone scammed his money. i believe it is the parents fault if i were his bro i would probably beat the crap out of him then take the computer away. and he didnt even go to school for 2 months! man i dont like school a lot but i mean come on... i still go. well the kid obviously needs a "REALITY CHECK"

[lavirylime]

Crappy parents make crappy kids, there's nothing more to it.

 

 

 

bahah the article keeps saying how intelligent he was, but he goes to a community college.

 

 

 

He's a real genius.

 

How old are you? Just wondering. I don't know if age has anything to do with this lack of insight and maturity, but there is a gigantic misconception in this society that if you go to a college that's not famous, you're a failing piece of trash that won't get anywhere in life. Maybe that perception arises from our ignorant superficial habits, but whatever reason, I'm just letting you know -- there are smart people who attend community colleges for other reasons, not because the name colleges rejected them.

 

 

 

And before you attempt ad hominem here, no, I do not attend a community college, but I do not several who do, and frankly they're far more intelligent (and intelligence is not limited to being a book-smart trash) than most of the people I know in my university.

 

 

 

thats about the wierdest thing about runescape, it is just a game, dont give me bs about you gettting scammed. i remember a kid killed himself because someone scammed his money. i believe it is the parents fault if i were his bro i would probably beat the crap out of him then take the computer away. and he didnt even go to school for 2 months! man i dont like school a lot but i mean come on... i still go. well the kid obviously needs a "REALITY CHECK"

 

What's wrong with people killing themselves over a game? I like that. Less freaks in existence in the real world.

 

 

 

When you give someone their first drink, you don't realise they're going to become an alcoholic.

 

What a pathetic apology on the parents' side. You have to be aware of all the consequences. And when you give someone their first drink, you're pretty much giving someone poison anyway.

[HellsBells]

Hard to put a password on the computer? Or whip him with the ol' belt when he goes over 3 hours? :XD:

 

 

 

This is sooooo stupid.

[berbatovsky]

Meh yet ANOTHER case of a praent failing to CONTROL their children and blaming an artistic median. this attitude has spread its way all around the 'free' world and now (most)every parent whines and moans that their child is (badly)influenced by drugs/rock and roll/rap/t.v/movies etc.. instead of doing their GODAMN JOB AS A PARENT AND INSTILLING SOME MOTHER [bleep]ING DISCIPLINE AND ORDER INTO THEIR CHILD/CHILDS LIFE.

 

 

 

Yeh i feel quite strongly about this, the fact that parents no longer PAY ANY ATTENTION TO THEIR CHILDREN AND SPEND ALL THEIR TIME BLAMING 'SOCIETY' FOR THEIR CHILDREN BEING MEGLOMANIACS/SOCIOPATHS. Actually South Park did a stirling episode about this in which all the parents run off to try and get Terrance and Phillip banned from T.V (because they swear and fart in the show) and then meanwhile the kids are left fending of Death and in the end when their t.v show gets banned they contemplate doing heroin and having sex. That's why South Park owns parents when it comes to 'getting it'.

 

 

 

 

 

EDit: in my haste to post my anger i didnt read many posts and it would appear what i said has been said 50 times already so i will add this, if the child hates school because of bullying or w/e it is down to the parents to TALK to the child and find out these problems and then offer advise, talk to teacher, sue the school or w/e(its America). The child obviously isn't in a happy place if he's spending all his time on his own and skipping school.

[Flodder450]

well, first of all it's apparently about a father's son, and secondly, it's the families problem. if this kid decides, "i'm gonna throw my life away for runescape" then that's either the kids fault or his parents fault for not taking action. the only thing that comes outta throwing your life away from a game is a bad future and a helluva lot of flaming.

is it in the u.s.a. cuz there you are going intojail if you whack your child there are there all what we call in holland "kribbig'' come on parant trow that pc out of the windo do`h #-o

[CheeseBap]

What part of the Sunday Times is it in because I had a quick browse and couldn't find it? I would like to read it.

[Exilemaster1]

Zezima!?

 

 

 

Lol You are made of win XD

 

 

 

am i the only one that wonders the kids stats?

 

 

 

I thought the exact same thing :-k

[Itsjustagame]

Crappy parents make crappy kids, there's nothing more to it.

 

 

 

bahah the article keeps saying how intelligent he was, but he goes to a community college.

 

 

 

He's a real genius.

 

How old are you? Just wondering. I don't know if age has anything to do with this lack of insight and maturity, but there is a gigantic misconception in this society that if you go to a college that's not famous, you're a failing piece of trash that won't get anywhere in life. Maybe that perception arises from our ignorant superficial habits, but whatever reason, I'm just letting you know -- there are smart people who attend community colleges for other reasons, not because the name colleges rejected them.

 

 

 

And before you attempt ad hominem here, no, I do not attend a community college, but I do not several who do, and frankly they're far more intelligent (and intelligence is not limited to being a book-smart trash) than most of the people I know in my university.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ad hominem is an adjective btw, not a noun.

 

 

 

and he goes to a community college...therefore, he's not very smart by my standards. If he was smart, he'd probably go to a decent school. People who are intelligent don't usually volunteer to go to a community college...because it's a community college.

[rareghoul1]

well, pretty much, if i start spending too much time on my computer and start being anti-social, my parents ground me. instead of complaining about it, they should do a little parenting.

[muggiwhplar]

I hope the father's last name isn't Sters >_>

[Evrae]

I have to say that i take this with a pinch of salt. I know a guy who has been in the local papers and TV numerous times because he 'only eats jam sandwiches'. In fact, everyone that knew him knew this was complete rubbish - his parents just milked it for the publicity.

 

 

 

Secondly , this is nothing. In the back of my favourite magazine (Private Eye) they have a selection of funny stories from papers around the world. Apparently there is a 19 year old Korean so addicted to online games that he wears a nappy to let him keep playing in his local internet cafe. When the owner complained to his dad, who went round to take him home, the kid pulled a knife on him. Thats what I call dedication - sitting in your own [cabbage] to play!

 

 

 

But yeah, if it is all true, his parents should take some blame. But i don't believe that his behaviour caused the family to split up on its own. And he should take some of the blame too. I know I'll take the blame I deserve if my exam results are [bleep]ed up. If I get into Oxford university, all well and good. If I don't I'll be bloody pissed off - with myself. People nowadays are too ready to blame anyone but themselves - thats the main thing wrong with society.

[Mazpot]

Why the hell didnt hge just disconnect the internet

[warren211]

Two months. TWO WHOLE MONTHS of skipping school to play, playing in the dark, etc. The parents knew about it. so why didnt those blasted idiots who call themselves parents do something earlier?

[Adventurer]

I see a problem that nobody has seemed to have addressed.

 

 

 

There seems to be no real sense of family in that family. In a good, loving family, there has to be LOVE, and everything that follows from it like caring, sharing, communicating, support, DISCIPLINE, etc.

 

 

 

Now, if the parents had been loving enough to actually take some apparently-lacking concern to their child, maybe they could've helped him. Also, the kid might have been able to seek support from his parents if they had been loving.

 

 

 

Instead of that ideal happening though, it looks like there was no love in the family that allowed for any of those good things that lets parents get along and raise a child and lets the child confide in his or her parents.

 

 

 

I take this view from my own household experiences from the viewpoint of a former kid and current teenager.

[silver24-7]

(I don't know if Tip.It allows the d word) machine!

 

 

 

Man, I should charge for all this free crap I do.

 

 

 

Umm... if u said "crap", i'm pretty sure u can say "damn"

 

 

 

Anyway, i hope my parents dont see this article cos they might just ban me from playing.

 

 

 

Maybe let them read mine and some other peoples replies to it afterwards and they might see how ridiculous it is XD

[Lightning]

As i think i seen from these posts, no one has asked why this boy such long hours.

 

 

 

I been addicted to many things over the years myself and i also seen it in my own kids. It is not always the parents fault, no one knows why the parents hasn't stopped him, its all one sided text i seen. Alot of parents do actually get scared of their own kids, (not in my case and i'm not saying this is the case with this family, just stating a fact here) but i seen it in my friends families, and to save them hell, they let the child do what they want and don't ask for help. Father says his kids life being stolen by addiction to games, but does not say why it happened or why he hasn't taken the steps to stop his son. There is alot of grey areas there, and news reporters never ever report all the story. I hope for the father that now it is news they will get the help they need, no matter who is to blame or the under laying problem that cause it.

 

 

 

When my kids started to get addicted it was mainly over the fact they were unhappy with life, it took me a few months myself to see what was happening but i took steps to find out the cause. I'm lucky that my kids can actually talk to me about almost anything and the problems got sorted out.

 

 

 

ALot of families i know, let their kids play too much just for the fact there really isn't alot to do around area they live in or the area they live in isn't so nice. I could go on and on about this subject and as i said theres alot of grey areas that wasn't covered in that news, and so users shouldn't jump and make judgements on that father or son.

[harpy18]

I can't say I don't agree with his parents...But that doesn't make Runescape a bad thing. If you play Runescape for 16 hours a day, you're definately way too obsessed. They probobly should have limited their child's time to begin with.

[cool_chica88]

16 hours a day? That's nuts. But the parents really have no one to blame but themselves. Take away the membership, or even the computer! I play a lot in the summer (not even an eighth of this kid though) but not at all during the school months. Like everything else, internet gaming needs to be regulated with kids. But unfortunately too many parents feel it's society's fault and not their own.

[Kevin_]

That's pretty pathetic if they blame a game for it, they're the parents, so far for parental control.

[Crazykid1321]

God, I can not beleive how idoitic these people are, the parents do nothing, not even an attempt to solve the problem but instead they report this story to the local media. The teenager who is 15 years of age, plays for 16 hours daily and yet does not realize that he has a problem, and I thought I was hardheaded. Also the sister moving away instead of aiding her brother, personally I think this family is too addicted to something that is not Online Games. :-w

[Powman3]

I use to be like that, but not addicted like a drug.

 

I didn't skip school because of it... I got bad grades, lost a couple of friends, but I got right back on track

 

This kid needs to find something else that interests him. that other thing for me is football :)

 

I do feel bad for him though

[cplus44]

I'm on the computer 15 hours a day on week ends i take 1 hour and a half breaks. On weekdays i'm on the computer for 2 hours but i don't skip school.

 

Although i'm in summer school :cry: .

 

 

 

It would be funny if runescape just stopped when hes 22 with no job living in his moms basement.

[Sheynara]

I can understand the parents concerns, although it is rather neglectful of them to have let it get so bad before making a case out of it.

 

 

 

My son is 13 and plays Runescape, and on occasion, such as school holidays, or on a rainy day on weekends, I let him play a lot. During school terms and on weekends, however, I limit his usage to about an hour or two a day. We have some massive fights over it when I tell him to turn it off. With him being autistic these fights turn into meltdowns, but I stay strong, and on occasion have had to carry him kicking and screaming away from the computer.

 

 

 

One of the positive aspects of MMORPG's is that my son is learning social skills. You may think why? With him being mildly autistic, he can communicate with other players in the game without being constantly told to look at them. He has problems forming friendships, due to him not using eye contact when he talks to people. In game, people don't see that, and he is learning how to form deeper friendships. He does have friends in real life but it has taken a long time for him to form those friendships. Playing Runescape has helped his social skills in real life.

 

 

 

Did anyone ask about the school? Why have they let the child miss that much schooling without taking action? Maybe the school should have taken action long before this, the parent would then have had some support.

[malo2]

that father is a failure as a father, wtf is he doing talking to reporters when he is supposed to be cutting off his sons internet!???