Couple Let Baby Starve To Death While Raising Virtual Baby Online

What do you think should happen to this couple, which, they both obviously had some sort of mental issues?

Should there be regulations for internet use in local places? What about home? IS there a way to regulate use at home?

The website obviously can't be held responsible, but does anybody here think it should be?

Do you think video games and online games are addictive enough to cause this situation to become a common thing? What can we do?

Some games can be extremely addicting. I used to be a Simsaholic myself. As much as I liked being totally absorbed in my fake but more perfect life, I could not ignore my real responsibilities. Procrastinate yes, ignore no. What this couple did falls on their shoulders. It's sad that it happened, and I hate that it happened, but it's the parents fault and no one elses. I do believe that if extended families became close again it would help in these kinds of situations, but people are afraid of 'butting in' to much anymore so I don't think that will happen.

I'm pretty sure the problem in the reported case wasn't the online game. It was that the parents indulged in escapism (which can happen in any form, and eventually, the child probably would have died from neglect whatever addiction they indulged in). They could have, instead of spending twelve hours in an internet cafe, could have spent twelve hours in the bar, or a crack house, or at a horse racing track, a casino, a shopping mall...

The online game just happened to be their addiction of choice.
Game wasn't the problem, it was whatever was going on inside of their heads. The addiction was only a symptom of a much larger problem. (as it usually is.)

People look for healing, and find it in all the wrong places.

"Anima- The World Spirit" known for its involvement with Stoicism a type of occult/paganism
Maybe they got absorbed into the spirit of The World, and became detached from reality.

Originally Posted by Mirana

I'm pretty sure the problem in the reported case wasn't the online game. It was that the parents indulged in escapism (which can happen in any form, and eventually, the child probably would have died from neglect whatever addiction they indulged in). They could have, instead of spending twelve hours in an internet cafe, could have spent twelve hours in the bar, or a crack house, or at a horse racing track, a casino, a shopping mall...

The online game just happened to be their addiction of choice.
Game wasn't the problem, it was whatever was going on inside of their heads. The addiction was only a symptom of a much larger problem. (as it usually is.)

People look for healing, and find it in all the wrong places.

I agree. I feel that the parents obviously had some sort of mental issues, or this would have never happened.

Some games are just too addicting. I think it's a possibility that they should be limited, but also I think the parents should have enough brain to know to check on the baby. Thats lack of attention, those parents are just terrible, I could'nt believe that that even happened. I'm dissapointed. They should be held responsible.

:vicky:

The irony of the article's title is sickening.
Yes, the allure of a perfect virtual life is enough to suck you right in and keep playing. However people know their responsibilities.
So no, I do not believe there should be regulations for internet use.
However, there should be regulations of internet use for mentally ill persons and children. (That have trouble managing their time.)
The couple described in this article do appear to be mentally ill, no sane parents would do that to their child.

The internet game wasn't all responsible. The article claims they lost their jobs and their will to live ( presumbly over the finanical problems caused by the job loss).
Therefore the job loss is partly responsible for what happened to their baby.

Originally Posted by Amaterasu-Okami

:vicky:

The irony of the article's title is sickening.
Yes, the allure of a perfect virtual life is enough to suck you right in and keep playing. However people know their responsibilities.
So no, I do not believe there should be regulations for internet use.
However, there should be regulations of internet use for mentally ill persons and children. (That have trouble managing their time.)
The couple described in this article do appear to be mentally ill, no sane parents would do that to their child.

agreed. they definitely had problems. They had lost their jobs and were using this as a way to cope, however, I think they had some sort of mental illness to begin with.

Maybe before this happened, they should have realized that they were incapable of taking care of their baby due to the situation happening and asked for help before the baby starved.

Originally Posted by Claudia

Maybe before this happened, they should have realized that they were incapable of taking care of their baby due to the situation happening and asked for help before the baby starved.

agreed. but it is possible that they didn't realize that they had a problem.

My guess is the country that they were living in didn't have a good support network for families in need.

Originally Posted by Mirana

My guess is the country that they were living in didn't have a good support network for families in need.

That is probably true.

I don't know if anyone has ever seen startrek, but there's something in the show(at least the next generation series) called a Holodeck. I always thought when I was little, I'd love to just stay there forever because it had everything I would ever need/want even though it was virtual.

Escapism, as Mirana said is the true cause of this. There are other forms of escapism. Obsessive TV watching, Reading, really anything that distracts you from anything else or anything painful. Some people use work, others use alcohol or drugs. However as technology becomes more life like(The movie Avatar for example), we as humans will get sucked into it a little easier. I can't imagine people would play Mario or Tetris for days on end to escape the world so much as they would play a life-like game like Prius Online, Sims or other similar games.

Although I don't believe it's much of a problem. Yes, what happened here was sad but it's not the online game's fault in any way. The number of people who use videogames to escape like this is certainly rising, but the use of other mediums as an escape is decreasing. What's cheaper, playing an online game or a drinking habit? drugs? So you can see how a free or even like a 5 dollars a month video game would be more appealing.

Oi, that poor thing D:

What do you think should happen to this couple, which, they both obviously had some sort of mental issues?

I think that this couple should definitely serve some time in prison, if not life in prison. Their sick people. When it comes to having mental issues, not at all. The article did state that they were having job problems and their baby was premature. I agree with the artivle when it says they were trying to escape from life. It's amazing how many people actually do that. For it to get that extreme though to the point where a life is taken, well, that its just ridiculous.

Should there be regulations for internet use in local places? What about home? IS there a way to regulate use at home?

I don't think their should be regulations for internet use unless your some crazy couple that is willing to let your baby die due to a virtual game.

The website obviously can't be held responsible, but does anybody here think it should be?

I don't think so. The parents are the ones completely out of their mind.

Do you think video games and online games are addictive enough to cause this situation to become a common thing? What can we do?

I deffinately think so. What do we do? What IS ther to do? People need to start being more responsible. Simple as that.

This kind of situation is unavoidable. It is commonplace for children to die due to neglect of care, but this article only gets media attention because there was a game involved. I don't play games much and I don't particularly like Sims or any online virtual life games for that matter, but the fact remains that this is a problem with the minds of the people involved, not the game. I don't see any signs of mental problems from my perspective, but the major problem here seems to be ignorance. I doubt that couple had any idea what they were doing or that their baby was suffering malnutrition. What they did may not be excusable, but I have personal doubts about the way that article is worded, the article specifically focuses on the idea that the couple was obsessed with their virtual-child more so than their real child, but provides us with no derivatives from which they decided upon this at all, which seems, to me, like blatant sensationalism. I even have serious doubts that such described 12-hour sessions took place at all. The whole article touches on too many hot subjects for writer not to get over enthusiastic about.

You can see this in two ways. Either A)

The couple didn't care about their child and used the game as an escape from reality to a perfect world leading to the death of their own child.

or B)

The couple were ignorant of how to take care of a child that just survived a premature birth, which led to it's death and a recent game addiction was mostly uninvolved in doing what ignorance wasn't already.

that's really messed up. i play alot of games but i could never ignore a baby. but maybe they just believed the virtual baby was the real baby. at the very least they should be examined for any psychiatric issues.

What do you think should happen to this couple, which, they both obviously had some sort of mental issues?

i think they should be charged with involuntary manslaughter as the least severe punishment, though i read the article and it stated that they were "trying to escape reality by playing this game" and may have had some psychological issues. and should be evaluated by a psychologist.

Should there be regulations for internet use in local places? What about home? IS there a way to regulate use at home?

i don't think there should be regulations of any sort on internet usage, especially in the home. you are paying for a service and it is being used in the privacy of your own home. using the internet is a privilege you pay for, at a monthly rate, for unlimited use. to infringe on that is an invasion of privacy and free will.

The website obviously can't be held responsible, but does anybody here think it should be?

no i do not. the website was not advertising to drop their lives and just play, play, play.. it was a personal decision the couple made.

Do you think video games and online games are addictive enough to cause this situation to become a common thing? What can we do?

video games and online games are addictive, but there is a fine line here.. i don't think that many people's addictions would be severe enough to hinder you from keeping your baby alive. this is an extremely severe case.

It's completely the parents fault, in no way should a game ever become more important to you then your real life, especially your child. that's ridiculous. but there's obviously something wrong with both of them, no sane person would ditch their kid for a video game, but i still think they should be charged. That poor child, how sad.

I heard about this. So cruel. But I saw the virtual kid in one pic and it looks much different. But they were arrested.

This couple was clearly irresponsible, stupid, and careless. I don't care how addicted you are to a video game, you always feed your child. I do not believe the government should regulate internet/game use though. They have enough control as it is. Change can only be made by properly educating parents of the dangers they put their child in with this behavior. The parents need to be punished for their neglect. I don't believe that video game addiction is enough of a mental illness to justify letting your kid starve to death.