Teenager Daniel Petric shot parents who took away Xbox

Moonbiter · Post by **Moonbiter** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:29 am

Now [url="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5512446.ece"]this[/url] is pretty wild. I might seem a teensy bit insensitive here, but if you let your kid play video games for 18 hours a day in the first place.....

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:51 am

Oh my god. I have that exact shirt, the one the boy is wearing in the picture. Creepy as hell.

Demortis · Post by **Demortis** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 7:05 am

[quote=" judge]The popular Halo series involves destroying aliens. Once the game ends and a new game starts"]

Um, some one wanna do a shoe check? the only ones who shouldnt know this are kids 14 and under... So if I went and did this, and all I did was read a book? Would they blame the writers? Cuz I can just read the book again and their back?

Their just lookin for a scapegoat... isnt there anything we can do?

Moonbiter · Post by **Moonbiter** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 7:36 am

Demortis wrote:
Their just lookin for a scapegoat... isnt there anything we can do?

Get a life and stop playing games for 18 hours a day might be a good start...

Seriously, this is a result of horribly bad parenting skills, IMHO. I mean, what were they thinking?

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:06 am

Well - at least he learned how to handle firearms

Yes yes - morbid, but .....

fable · Post by **fable** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:30 am

Moonbiter wrote:Get a life and stop playing games for 18 hours a day might be a good start...

Seriously, this is a result of horribly bad parenting skills, IMHO. I mean, what were they thinking?

That's easy. They were thinking, "Everybody has kids. So we'll have at least one, too. And we'll ignore it, after a while. Because that's what most people do, too."

You know, in the early Manchu dynasty, they used to give pretty hefty sentences to parents whose children became criminals after it was established that the parents neglected their upbringing. Not a bad idea, at all.

Jimwth · Post by **Jimwth** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:34 am

He played for 18 hours a day? So what? I'm playing since my 8-th birthday, there was a time when I was playing for 24 hours day after day. I've played through some violent games several times (Manhunt, GTA) where you kill virtual people instead of aliens and, you know, they were returning, game after game, too.When I was younger sometimes my parents managed to restrict my access to my console/PC and I was really mad at them when that happened but that's all. It has never made me decide to kill anyone for real. In fact games maybe saved someone from getting hurt by me:laugh:

It is never a fault of a video game when people shoot each other. It's people's fault. If a teenager shoots his parents in cold blood it's either his fault - because he's insane - or the fault of his parents (in case he's normal) who haven't given him enough love and caring when he was younger.

I admit that video/PC games are addictive but they're not drugs. If you have someone who is dear to you, you will try to understand him/her no matter how angry you are at them, not to kill them.

Jimwth · Post by **Jimwth** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:41 am

fable wrote:That's easy. They were thinking, "Everybody has kids. So we'll have at least one, too. And we'll ignore it, after a while. Because that's what most people do, too."

Well, that's exactly what I was trying to say. You are formulating your thoughts much better than me, Fable

Moonbiter · Post by **Moonbiter** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 11:05 am

Jimwth wrote:He played for 18 hours a day? So what? I'm playing since my 8-th birthday, there was a time when I was playing for 24 hours day after day. I've played through some violent games several times (Manhunt, GTA) where you kill virtual people instead of aliens and, you know, they were returning, game after game, too.When I was younger sometimes my parents managed to restrict my access to my console/PC and I was really mad at them when that happened but that's all. It has never made me decide to kill anyone for real. In fact games maybe saved someone from getting hurt by me:laugh:

It is never a fault of a video game when people shoot each other. It's people's fault. If a teenager shoots his parents in cold blood it's either his fault - because he's insane - or the fault of his parents (in case he's normal) who haven't given him enough love and caring when he was younger.

I admit that video/PC games are addictive but they're not drugs. If you have someone who is dear to you, you will try to understand him/her no matter how angry you are at them, not to kill them.

You know, in the middle of this uproar about violent video games, I can't quite shake the feeling that there's something to the old saying "Monkey see, monkey do." You've been playing since you were 8? I have a son who's coming up on that age in a couple of years, screaming blue murder about the other kids in school getting all the cool games and so on... He goes to ski/slalom practice, fencing and piano classes, because he wants to. Each time I come to fetch him he's miffed because some friend didn't show up because they were at home with their nose glued to a screen. I could ramble on about the parents of those friends and their lives, but the point is, this is just wrong and Fable put it right in so many words.

Let's see... According to the article, the father and relatives "forgives" the killer. Hooray! The same father who had a firearm readily accessible for his 17 year old deranged son to use. I mean... really? Granted, it ain't easy to deal with a 17 year old on the best of days, but having handguns floating unchecked around the house isn't exactly smart, whether you have kid or not.

Then there is the obvious alarm that should go off when a 17 year old ain't out there chasing girls and getting into trouble, but spends every waking hour with a frikkin computer game!

If my son, at the age of 17, doesn't suffer heartbreak, wrecks my car and comes home 3 hours late to puke in my lap, I will get seriously worried!

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Oh, I was over at a friend's place playing XBox for 18 hours.."

"You're grounded for a month! No use of the computer unless you watch porn and you better steal some booze while you're at it!"

Oh, and Xan, just to out-morbid you: No, he apparently didn't learn how to use firearms properly...

(and I got through this one without a single spelling error. Yay me!)

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:02 pm

Guns don't kill people, people. Irony does.

Jimwth · Post by **Jimwth** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:26 pm

Moonbiter wrote:Then there is the obvious alarm that should go off when a 17 year old ain't out there chasing girls and getting into trouble, but spends every waking hour with a frikkin computer game! If my son, at the age of 17, doesn't suffer heartbreak, wrecks my car and comes home 3 hours late to puke in my lap, I will get seriously worried!

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Oh, I was over at a friend's place playing XBox for 18 hours.."

"You're grounded for a month! No use of the computer unless you watch porn and you better steal some booze while you're at it!"

(and I got through this one without a single spelling error. Yay me!)

I really don't think that there should be an alarm. I see nothing wrong with playing video games at the age of 17, 18 and so forth. At that age I didn't met any girls because I didn't like those that I saw each day. I've never drank alcohol in all my life and never gone to most of parties which were made by my schoolmates - I couldn't tolerate drunk boys and girls that were vomiting all over the place. I liked PC games, and I had (and still have) few friends that were sharing my interests. I'm 22 now (23 in a month), I've got not a bad job, I'm married and we have a son. I will sell my soul for him if it'll be needed. I still play, but not much - it is enough for me. Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm also studying. I also finished (is that the word? sorry, I'm not sure how to say this correctly) music school (piano class). It took 9 years, I started when I was 4. The last 2 years of this was a time in the Hell for me to say the least. I realized that I didn't like it anymore.

Sorry if I'm blabbering too much, but, what I'm trying to say is it will be not that bad if your son will be playing games a lot or not or do something he likes - he will do nothing really bad if you will love him and he will see and sense it. He will learn by your example. And I don't think that there will be any problems with this, Moonbiter: I remember you promised to be the best father to your son in another thread here, right?

p.s.: If I hadn't been playing a lot in my life, I would have never spoken english and never posted on this forum. My english is pretty terrible, I know, but I still can communicate

Demortis · Post by **Demortis** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 9:25 pm

Tricky wrote:Guns don't kill people, people. Irony does.

Guns dont kill people. 3/4inch holes kill people!

I played as much as he did, and i turned out twisted. But, not enough to shoot someone,

Jimwth] When I was younger sometimes my parents managed to restrict my access to my console/PC and I was really mad at them when that happened but that's all. It has never made me decide to kill anyone for real. In fact games maybe saved someone from getting hurt by me[/quote] Exactly wrote: You know, in the early Manchu dynasty, they used to give pretty hefty sentences to parents whose children became criminals after it was established that the parents neglected their upbringing. Not a bad idea, at all.

Good Idea. So when do we start?

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 1:19 am

Obviously something is wrong when you kill your own mother over a freaking game! I really cannot imagine... This kid is definitely not safe in society. Whether a jail or mental hospital is best for him who knows. But I don't think they have video games in either.

I really hate to blame is dead mother and well meaning father. Well time for a new game it is called 'prison'. Good luck kido.

Galuf the Dwarf · Post by **Galuf the Dwarf** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:14 am

Okay, something just doesn't add up in this article...

First, we have a denouncement by the judge:

Judge Burge rejected the defence attorneys' argument that Petric, 17, of Wellington, Ohio, was not guilty by reason of insanity, saying that the teen's youth and addiction made him less responsible. Petric played the Halo games as much as 18 hours a day at friends' houses when he had the chance.

Then it seems like the very same judge supports the defense's argument:

Judge Burge said there was ample evidence that the boy planned to kill his parents. But the judge said he believed playing the games long enough caused physical and psychological changes in the teenager's brain, similar to drug use. "When you stop, your brain won't stand for it, just as it wouldn't stand for it when you quit using heroin or crack cocaine," he said.

Granted, I think there's more to this situation than the article presents. Like fable and other members suggest, I believe parental neglect is more at play than the video games. The father sounds arrogant and overly laid-back with his parenting methods, at the least.

It's ironic that this young man had to play Halo 3 for 18 hours, and yet my mother instates a curfew for my internet time at a maximum of 6 hours and insists I'm in bed by around 1 or 2 AM. It is necessary, knowing my responsibilities at home, though, even at 25 years old. Shows you how a good parent would probably act for a gamer.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:20 am

Galuf the Dwarf wrote:<snip>Then it seems like the very same judge supports the defense's argument:
<snip>

Well, I'm not sure whether "drug use" or rather withdrawal falls under "not guilty by reason of insanity"? I know it doesn't in this country.
But perhaps some USian can clarify that.

GearGamer · Post by **GearGamer** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:35 pm

all i can really say to this is wow.... its really sad that something like this can happen.