Signup
Welcome to... Canonfire! World of GreyhawK
Features
Postcards from the Flanaess
Adventures
in Greyhawk
Cities of
Oerth
Deadly
Denizens
Jason Zavoda Presents
The Gord Novels
Greyhawk Wiki
#greytalk
JOIN THE CHAT
ON DISCORD
    Canonfire :: View topic - Couple sentenced to 4 years for playing D&D
    Canonfire Forum Index -> The Backalley
    Couple sentenced to 4 years for playing D&D
    Author Message
    Grandmaster Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 23, 2004
    Posts: 1212


    Send private message
    Fri Sep 21, 2007 9:01 am  
    Couple sentenced to 4 years for playing D&D

    Sep. 21, 2007
    Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

    Couple sentenced for neglect

    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
    Apprentice Greytalker

    Joined: Sep 11, 2007
    Posts: 5
    From: Arga-don, Hold of the Sea Princes

    Send private message
    Fri Sep 21, 2007 9:31 am  

    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
    Site Theocrat

    Joined: Aug 15, 2003
    Posts: 235
    From: WoG 2.0

    Send private message
    Fri Sep 21, 2007 10:02 am  
    D&D Online, Not D&D Tabletop

    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
    Master Greytalker

    Joined: Jun 28, 2007
    Posts: 725
    From: Montevideo, Minnesota, US

    Send private message
    Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:08 am  

    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
    Grandmaster Greytalker

    Joined: Nov 23, 2004
    Posts: 1212


    Send private message
    Fri Sep 21, 2007 2:30 pm  

    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
    Master Greytalker

    Joined: Jun 25, 2007
    Posts: 951
    From: Neck Deep in the Viscounty of Verbobonc

    Send private message
    Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:18 pm  

    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.
    Display posts from previous:   
       Canonfire Forum Index -> The Backalley All times are GMT - 8 Hours
    Page 1 of 1

    Jump to:  

    You cannot post new topics in this forum
    You cannot reply to topics in this forum
    You cannot edit your posts in this forum
    You cannot delete your posts in this forum
    You cannot vote in polls in this forum




    Canonfire! is a production of the Thursday Group in assocation with GREYtalk and Canonfire! Enterprises

    Contact the Webmaster.  Long Live Spidasa!


    Greyhawk Gothic Font by Darlene Pekul is used under the Creative Commons License.

    PHP-Nuke Copyright © 2005 by Francisco Burzi. This is free software, and you may redistribute it under the GPL. PHP-Nuke comes with absolutely no warranty, for details, see the license.
    Page Generation: 0.38 Seconds