Mother calls cops cause son won't stop gaming.

Never saw the point in staying up late playing something. If you went to bed, you would get up earlier the next day and could play then. You shift the sleeping time, but the play time remains the same in the end.

Desperate people do desperate things. The thing that really annoys me about this article is the way it unfairly demonises "videos".

" Mother: "Hello police? My son is playing the violent video!"  Police: "What is your emergency ma'am?"  Mother: "Didn't you hear me? He won't stop playing the video!"  Police: "..."  Mother: "Hello?"  Police: "Ma'am, are you saying your son is watching a video?"  Mother: "Yes, he is playing the Grand Theft! in his room!"  Police: "Ah I see. He's playing Grand Theft Auto in his room?"  Mother: "Yes! I heard on FOX News that the video is made to rape policeman and defecate on nun's faces!"  Police: "...Uh, then why is your son playing it?"  Mother: "Because he's out of control! Tell him to stop!"  Police: "Hello? Son? "  Son: "Huh?"  Police: "Hey, your mother's worried. Chill out and go to bed."  Son: "But dude, I just found Dimitri!"  Police: "Yeah, I know but that double-crossing bastard isn't going anywhere. The thing does have auto-save."  Son: "Alright, fine."  Mother: "See what you make me do! I didn't know about this violent video! I kill you with this knife!"   Son: "Oh Jesus no!"  Police: "Uh, ma'am? Hello?" "
 
I like you.

      @Slippy said:

" Never saw the point in staying up late playing something. If you went to bed, you would get up earlier the next day and could play then. You shift the sleeping time, but the play time remains the same in the end. "

My parents sometimes tell me to go sleep...and most of the time I do go to sleep,  
She fails at being a parent, and understanding anything about games

Do not put a TV in the kid's room.  If she says he has a problem with 'tha vidya" then she should take the electronics out of his room.  Simple.

We used to play games straight through the night into the next day when we were that old on occasion.  Being 14 is awesome, you need about 5 minutes sleep.  If it's the weekend and you aren't disturbing anybody else, who cares, apart from this kid's nagging hyper-critical mother obviously.

That mom is stupid in every way.

So the mom is stupid. Too bad it will still go against those awful videos making our teens out of control!

I'm just going to take a guess here and say a woman of 49 years old raising four kids on her own and working in a job that doesn't sound too great or well paid is likely a woman under a lot of pressure and suffering from a fair bit of stress and tension in her daily life. Not to mention we don't know the circumstances that left her as a single parent (divorce? death? husband walked out on them?).
 
It seems extreme to call the police over something so trivial to most of us. But look at it from that woman's perspective, she's on her own raising her kids as best she can and likely has a hard time doing it. So when she asks them one simple thing like going to bed I'm sure she expects and hopes that her kids would have the respect to heed her wishes. But instead of her son doing the decent thing and realising his mum likely does a lot more for him than she asks in return, he takes it for granted. And I get the impression his addiction to video games is something that is a regular occurrence.
 
So to everyone here who has decided to take a big smelly poop on the mother I say to you, take a step back for a moment and think about this. Is it really unjustified for her to seek help from someone to make her son do what she wants him to do when he won't even listen to her? Clearly she's at a loss on how to make him listen to her if he won't even do something as simple as going to bed when told and without a second parent to back her up or step in she looked elsewhere for support.
 
Perhaps being raised by a single parent myself is the reason I have sympathy for her. But honestly I have to say, 14 year old or not, Saturday night or not, the kid should have listened to his mum and done what she asked. It wasn't unreasonable and it isn't like he couldn't have continued playing on Sunday or throughout the week. But as is becoming a weird trend amongst kids today, they do have this odd addiction to games that goes beyond normal levels of enjoyment and into the obsessive. I love video games, I endorse folks of all ages playing them, but in moderation. It isn't hard to show self restraint and some willpower.

all that can be said have been said. this woman is obviously crazy.

"Mother: "Hello police? My son is playing the violent video!"  Police: "What is your emergency ma'am?"  Mother: "Didn't you hear me? He won't stop playing the video!"  Police: "..."  Mother: "Hello?"  Police: "Ma'am, are you saying your son is watching a video?"  Mother: "Yes, he is playing the Grand Theft! in his room!"  Police: "Ah I see. He's playing Grand Theft Auto in his room?"  Mother: "Yes! I heard on FOX News that the video is made to rape policeman and defecate on nun's faces!"  Police: "...Uh, then why is your son playing it?"  Mother: "Because he's out of control! Tell him to stop!"  Police: "Hello? Son? "  Son: "Huh?"  Police: "Hey, your mother's worried. Chill out and go to bed."  Son: "But dude, I just found Dimitri!"  Police: "Yeah, I know but that double-crossing bastard isn't going anywhere. The thing does have auto-save."  Son: "Alright, fine."  Mother: "See what you make me do! I didn't know about this violent video! I kill you with this knife!"   Son: "Oh Jesus no!"  Police: "Uh, ma'am? Hello?" "

If I found my kid playing Grand Theft Auto, I'd sell his system in a heartbeat. First of all, he would know better than to be playing that. Second of all, it'd be dishonest for him to have a game like that in the house.
 
Maybe a few months with no video games would teach this young lad a lesson.

" The article itself (from the Boston Herald) is pretty badly written. The boy was playing 'Grand Theft Auto' on his 'Playstation'. Like, which game? On what Playstation? How many different versions could we be talking about here?"

What kind of idiot what actually call the police!? "Oh, no; my son is playing a video!!!" Can she sound any dumber? What, does this "video" kill off the audience like the one in the ring or something?

" I just found it amazing that this woman felt it necessary to waste police time instead of actually being a parent. "

" If I found my kid playing Grand Theft Auto, I'd sell his system in a heartbeat. First of all, he would know better than to be playing that. Second of all, it'd be dishonest for him to have a game like that in the house.  Maybe a few months with no video games would teach this young lad a lesson. "

Young teens know what parents should be doing.

aww man parents need to learn some parenting. she should have just went in and took the power cable so he couldn't play it. adults think that it is just an isolating problem but video games is a social thing. Especially now that people can play online that they can play with friends next door from each other. i play modern warfare 2 with my friend across town.

I can't tell you how many times I've played video games to "gain social acceptance"....give me a fucking break.

I assume the role of a ladder-climbing criminal everyday.

" I can't tell you how many times I've played video games to "gain social acceptance"....give me a fucking break. "

" @Hamz:
 
People seem to forget that some kids react like THIS when their games are taken away.  Now picture it at 2:30 AM and there is just the one stressed parent with 3 other siblings to care for.  At wits end, I can understand her desperation. "

She should have bought him Modern Warfare instead. He would become instantly bored and would have gone to bed. Let's face it, nothing beats sleep. Not even MW2.

When will those kids and their videos ever learn? It's the end of society as we know it. 

" @damnboyadvance said:

" If I found my kid playing Grand Theft Auto, I'd sell his system in a heartbeat. First of all, he would know better than to be playing that. Second of all, it'd be dishonest for him to have a game like that in the house.  Maybe a few months with no video games would teach this young lad a lesson. "

I know right. Because that Grand Theft Auto is the seed of all evil! "

"

“Adults tend to view video games as isolating experiences,” Kutner said. “Kids view them as social experiences. It’s a way in part - especially for boys - of gaining social acceptance.”    

"

" @Rayfield said:

" The article itself (from the Boston Herald) is pretty badly written. The boy was playing 'Grand Theft Auto' on his 'Playstation'. Like, which game? On what Playstation? How many different versions could we be talking about here?"

since the protagonist is described as a "ladder-climbing criminal" that must be niko so there ya go "

Wow,  Thats damn good parenting right there,
If she was really that upset about it why not just, I dont know... Take it Away????
 
But no, Instead she calls the police, Who obviously have nothing better to do than come tell her spoiled brat of a son, 
to stop playing the game and go to bed.....
 
I wonder why he doesnt listen to her when she obviously isnt smart enough to realize that if she takes the power cord 
HE CANT PLAY
 
God I hate people some times

I laughed at the "thousands of parents" and "mad-as-hell" mother part. These news stories always sound so fake.

You know what this story needed?  SWAT raids.  That kid wouldn't go near a console for years after one raid by his friendly neighborhood riot squad.

*Facepalm*
that actually made me luagh, she called the police just to get her son to bed xD

" @Branthog said:

" So what games or other forms of entertainment can we blame for shitty pass-the-buck parenting? "

So you couldn't be bothered to read. The article just states the facts. Its an odd call in, that's why they put it up. They don't take a slant one way or the other and everyone in the article from the author to the police seem to agree the mom is a little out of it. So there. Saved you the 2 minutes you couldn't bother to spend to read the article and have an informed opinion. "

dumb reason to call the cops.

"

Wow I can't believe what some people will do. This lady called the police on her own son for watching "videos" of someone climbing up ladders too early in the morning. Man there are some weird laws.... 
 
Thats almost as bad as not being able to sleep on top of a refrigerator.

"

" @jonnyboy said:

I love the irony in the fact that the police were taken away from real crimes to solve a dispute over virtual ones. "

perfect.  he should have popped em all, 3 stars isn't too bad. "