THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RENO -- A Reno couple who played video games while their two children went hungry and neglected have been sentenced to four years each in prison.
Michael Straw, 25, and 23-year-old Iana Straw lost themselves in a virtual world of monster-slaying missions in "Dungeons and Dragons" while their children suffered starvation and sickness, investigators said. Both pleaded guilty to two counts of child neglect and were sentenced on Tuesday by Washoe District Judge Steven Elliott.
Prosecutor Kelli Anne Viloria said that instead of providing health care or food for their children, the couple spent a $50,000 inheritance on a large plasma screen TV and computer equipment. "They had food, they just chose not to give it to their kids because they were too busy playing video games," she said.
Their daughter weighed only 10 pounds when police arrived and could not lift her head or sit up because she had no muscle development. Their son, at 22 months, lacked muscle mass and could not walk when police arrested the couple, the prosecutor said.
-----Assuredly, they were not 'Hawkers. _________________ Plar of Poofy Pants
Maybe the kids were gnomes, did the police even consider that?
Admin Note: In a serious and disgusting topic such as this, please refrain from humorous replies. As a parent myself, I can assure everyone there is absolutely nothing funny about the condition of those kids. Edit by Ratlord, PM me with any questions
Hi all -
Also being a Vegas, BABY! resident, I've read, re-read, and hashed out the difference between D&D Online and D&D Tabletop with a couple of my co-workers (I'm in administration at a private school). It is unfortunate that this particular story doesn't speficially mention the online version, other than the mentions that they had a plasma TV and computer equipment, because as we all know, even the table top game is a virtual world.
With the table top version, we all have to get up to pee, get another mtn. dew, but most importanly, it's a social game - and other people come over to the house and would SEE that the 10 month old couldn't pick their heads up.
What we as D&D Tabletop-ers need to establish is that there is a vast difference between D&D Online, WoW and any other online version of any tabletop game (whether it be D&D, M:tG, WoW TCG, or Monopoly) and that we cannot be lumped into the same mess as was done in the mid-Eighties.
Be Well. Be Well Fed and Cared For.
Theocrat Issak _________________ Theocrat Issak
My heart goes out to the children though. And so it begins again with a new generation. Your right, gaming as we know it (tabletop) is a social activity with guests coming over to the house. Clearly one couple out of millions of people can quickly send the public (media) into a frenzy as did the 80's.
I have noticed similar situtations however in regards to my spouse's friends kids. Play way too many video games, neglect homework, refuse to take phone calls, leave the house, disregard friends, get involved with others online (13 yr. old girls having online relationships with men) etc.
Where are the parents? Now clearly in the previous post, the problem was the parents, but still......Video games, RPG, need to be taken responsibily. It should be a hobby not an obsession. _________________ Eileen of Greyhawk, Prophet of Istus, Messenger of the Gods
Yeah, I'd like to get my LARP on against those parents and any zealots that come out of the woodwork against table top.
This thread does not really belong in this forum, but I was moved by the story and felt it would be a good for everyone to reflect upon. Might not happen in Back Alley. _________________ Plar of Poofy Pants
D&D has nothing to do with this story; it's merely an incidental detail. For that matter, so are video games. The point isn't what the parents WERE doing, the point is what they WEREN'T doing.
This problem is a symptom of more than a poor choice of hobbies. It has to do with a lack of personal discipline, a lack of ethical and moral training, in short the failure of a culture.
When it comes right down to it, a game is a game. If you're playing a game while your life is falling apart you're a fool. If you're doing ANYTHING while your life is falling apart you're a fool.
"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his own soul?" - It's not just a religious statement, it's a fact of life.
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