Baby dies while parents play World of Warcraft

[Mindi]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=59697

I can't decide which is more unconscionable, the fact that a child died because of this sort of neglect or the implied comment that if they had only left their 4 month old daughter home alone for 1 to 2 hours, like usual, it would be okay.

[FJ_MD]

Sad news indeed, but you cannot left a 4 months baby all alone! I think the baby have the priority above all other things...

[Leslie]

Their time in court would be short.

I would sterilise both and tell them both after they got out of jail they could forget adoption as well.

Even an idiot can get an equally stupid woman pregnant.

But it takes brains to be a parent.

[Mephisto]

If we judge the situation with fewer emotions I think we will come to much more founded judgment. Let’s see:

1.) A baby has died by suffocation.
2.) It did happen without the environment noticing.
3.) The parents were away playing a computer game.

Regarding 1.) Quite a number of babies die by suffocation, less in the last years. A reason for this was because parents were told to put their babies to sleep in the stomach to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). But as newborn babies are mostly not strong enough to move their head from one extreme position to the other they rest their head quite in the middle in the pillow and suffocate. It’s an accident and happens from time to time. There is not much you can do besides putting the baby on the back (but even then some babies roll).

Regarding 2.) Babies are often left without observation for hours – every night when the parents are asleep. Total control over the baby is not achievable and not realistic.

Regarding 3.) Playing the computer game was irrelevant to the fact the baby died by suffocation. It would have even if the parents were were just watching TV next door. One who suffocates does not cry – he has no breath to do so.

So, all in all, we have a baby who died a horrible and tragic way because – most probably, but we don't really know – the parents were not observing the best way to put a baby to sleep. In the end, the baby died to an error many parents do and an accident, that the baby tried to move its head and wasn't strong enough. The parents neglected the baby not more or less then millions of other parents did, including our own parents. Ask them if they were watching you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year without pause. I doubt it. "Let him who is without guild cast the first stone". My 0.02$.

[FJ_MD]

What you say, Mephisto, is right but I still think that the baby must have the priority.


I don't want to judge the parents, but some errors in this case were made.

[Mindi]

Mephisto,

Addressing your points:

1. They actually have specialized pillows so they can't roll over now and accidently suffocate as this poor child did. There are other methods that people use to make cribs and sleeping in general safer for a baby. Of course there are no guarantees.

2. Babies should only be left for hours during the night when parents are sleeping. I would think at 4 months however you would still be using a baby monitor and be getting up during the night to check on the child as well. Granted, this does not guarantee a baby will not suffocate, but they are basic safety precautions that most parents use to ensure they know if their baby is in trouble. And the fact remains that in this case they chose to leave a baby alone for 5 hours with no one in earshot to hear if the child was in trouble or to check on the child. In the states if you did that and the authorities found out, your child would be taken from you and put in foster care until you got some parenting courses and proved you were a fit parent along with dealing with criminal charges of neglect.

3. Playing a computer game is irrelivent, the neglect is not. I purposely said that the baby died from neglect and not a computer game as the computer game did not suffocate the baby, nor could it. I see this as a selfish act in which they are now responsible for the death of their child. What they were addicted to that they chose to put priority above their child is irreleveant--they could have been partying, at a bar, shopping, whatever--that doesn't matter. What matters is that the parents were neglectful and negligent in their daughter's death by leaving her, a 4 month old baby, in a house by herself for 5 hours. The implication from the parents that it would have been okay if they left her for only 1-2 hours by herself as usual completely boggles my mind. It shows that their parenting is lacking as is their judgement. Especially considering there was someone living right upstairs that could have watched the infant, but they chose to leave her alone anyway.

Just my $.02

[Chazar]

I am basically with Mephisto, Atrocities and Cypheros here.

However, while I always advocate that people should be required to obtain a licence in order to own a pet, I am strongly against the idea of a parenting licence, for this is nothing else but eugenics!

Nevertheless people should be educated in childcare. Maybe the accident could have been prevented by special cushions or by rolling up a towel or blanket, but you can only do this if you are aware of the impending risk at all. I do not know about korean education in order to judge them therefore. I do agree that childcare should become a topic at schools.

[tigertunes]

I am just too emotional to talk about this subject i feeel greatly for those poor parents and will hold back any comments about their parenting skills , i believe it is not for me to judge ;(