It seems that these days video games are being blamed for every crime possible! Now authorities are blaming video games for the neglect of their children by a couple from the state of Nevada in the United States. According to an AP story, they said that Michael and Iana Straw were so gripped with Internet and video games that they left their babies hungry and they suffered other health problems too.
On Friday, Michael Straw, 25, and Iana Straw, 23, pleaded guilty to two counts each, of child neglect and they stand to face a maximum 12-year prison sentence. Kelli Ann Viloria is the prosecutor in the case. She has said that the Straws were too distracted by online video games, especially the fantasy role-playing “Dungeons & Dragons” series, to give their children proper care.
Their children, a boy aged 22 months and a girl aged 11 months were found severely malnourished and near death after social workers took them to a hospital. Viloria later added that the couple did have food but they were too occupied playing video games. In fact, Michael who is an unemployed cashier had inherited a huge amount of money but spent it on a computer equipment and a plasma TV.
Patrick Killen is the spokesman for Nevada Child Abuse Prevention. He feels that video game addiction’s relationship to child abuse is ‘a new spin on an old problem.’ He says, “As we become more technologically advanced, there are more distractions. It’s easy for someone to get addicted to something and neglect their children. Whether it’s video games or meth, it’s a serious issue, and (we) need to become more aware of it.”
Previously, child abuse was basically due to drug addiction and abuse related to video game addiction was very rare.