Deny your kid playstation? He'll hire a hitman!

[Tonington]

Bizarre. I can remember when my mother or girlfriends would gripe and complain, and eventually take away privileges for excessive gaming, but I never thought of hiring a hitman. This 16 year old tried to hire a hitman to have his parents killed, and his mother's sting operation caught the little bastard.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2789073.ece

 

[karrie]

I can't even imagine.

 

[Sal]

How sad is that?

 

[Vereya]

At an earlier court hearing Mrs Troiano, 35, explained how her emotions were torn between being an agonised mother and a murder victim. “I miss him being at home,” she said, “and I miss us joking around and kidding around. And then in the very same breath – I don’t know what this kid will do, because it’s not my son. That can’t be my little boy sitting there.”

Perhaps if she did less joking and kidding around, and was a little bit more serious about his education and upbringing, this wouldn't have happened.

But Cory dropped out of school and then, after stealing $45 (£22) from his sister’s piggy bank, had a fight with his mother, which led to him being kicked out of home.

Was that a part of the kidding around that went on between the mother and the son?

Mrs Troiano fears that he is being manipulative. She wanted him tried in an adult court where he would have faced a much longer sentence.

This hardly appears to be the feeling of an agonised mother, to my mind.

 

[gerryh]

well....here's someone that really doesn't have a clue.

 

[YoungJoonKim]

Games eliminates interaction between parents and kids NATURALLY.
these are some cases...but I don't think its for this "boy"
Holly Molly..
A kid hiring hit man to kill his mom..
There is no excuse for this...

 

[missile]

How was the little jerk going to pay a hitman? Most kids don't have that much of an allowance;-) The hitman movie comes into the theatres next month.

 

[Niflmir]

To me, being led under false pretenses by a person you should have a natural respect for (the mother of one of your friends) when you are in a state of high emotional agitation and anger directed against a particular person and then being told by a person pretending to be a hitman that murder is a natural way to solve your problems is not attempted murder. To me that is idiocy.

Do most people know where to go to hire a hitman? Would most people even think about it? Are there even any in North America, and if so, how prevalent are they?

You get a person to the point where they scream, "I wish you were dead," and then you have a respectable person set them up like this, and in that heightened emotional state, there is no such thing as a reasonable person. On top of that when there is a genuine conspiracy by your family, friends and the authorities to set you up into a position where you either agree or disagree with the policeman that killing is appropriate how can you feel anything but pressure to say, "Yes, kill them."

I have so many questions about this situation, but primarily, if this individual is to be tried in the juvenile court as they mention down near the bottom of the article, how is it that I know his name is Cory Ryder? There is some serious lack of due dilligence here.

 

[Jersay]

Just a bizarre story. I don't think the mother is an angel and protrayed as such. I think something is under the surface, or this was a totally disfunctional family and she is blaming it on video gaming.

 

[YoungJoonKim]

I remember my teacher telling the class about a story of a girl who killed her family, including her little brother...LITTLE brother because her parents didn't want her dating a guy who is 10 years old than her and she was a teenager.

 

[missile]

I just looked in The Yellow pages under H, and found several listings for killers for hire[some even take Visa]:roll:

 

[sirlorenzo]

That's messed up. All I can say.

 

[AnnaG]

wow!
I guess maybe the research is true that too much video, computer, etc. use promotes antisocial behavior, or at least dissociative behavior.

 

[karrie]

wow!
I guess maybe the research is true that too much video, computer, etc. use promotes antisocial behavior, or at least dissociative behavior.

I think it's a chicken and egg question. Is the excess gaming a cause or a symptom of a problem?

 

[AnnaG]

I guess so. It's why I said "promotes" rather than "causes".

 

[MHz]

How sad (and shocking) when you (the hired-gun)gets the contract to take yourself out. LOL What is the best option, take the money and then off your own kid???

 

[MHz]

I think it's a chicken and egg question. Is the excess gaming a cause or a symptom of a problem?

The players don't write the programs. In this case it would be the developers that are liable. Incentive to 'do illegal things', course having the brains to be able to tell the difference between cartoons and reality should be a basic skill for everybody.
If a game develops a high standing it is the developer that gets the reward$. The players get what entertainment they can draw from spending time on it.

 

[AnnaG]

The players don't write the programs. In this case it would be the developers that are liable. Incentive to 'do illegal things', course having the brains to be able to tell the difference between cartoons and reality should be a basic skill for everybody.
If a game develops a high standing it is the developer that gets the reward$. The players get what entertainment they can draw from spending time on it.

A brewer can't be held liable for what people do with its beer. A car maker can't be held responsible for what people do with their car. Why would a game maker be held responsible for some kid being nuts? That's just taking responsibility away from people who should know better and putting it at someone else's doorstep whoonly wants to entertain people and make a buck while they're at it.

 

[VanIsle]

Don't you think it's up to the parents to control what games their kids play? I know kids sneak off to their friends place and play games they shouldn't. That's life. There is a play station 3 sitting in my house here that belongs to my grandkids. I'm not sure what games they play but I do know that their parents put limitations on them. The games cost about $50.00 each so it's not like they have a ton of new games. They sometimes get used ones. They also all have their DS Lite games that they play and again - the games are expensive and they can be violent or they can be Dora The Explorer. I know that sometimes the kids trade games with their friends too but they rat each other out. Sometimes I think it's better to get the DS or the Play station for them and have a look at what they find so interesting. Maybe then you can realize that if their behaviour is changing, they are getting way too much time on their games. We limit their time.

 

[AnnaG]

"Don't you think it's up to the parents to control what games their kids play?" I do. Both our girls liked that Tetris game and puzzle games. But they also love to play soccer and do things with friends like swimming and camping. So we hardly ever had to nag them to go do something besides watch tv or play video games.