Nevada: couple blames the Internet for neglect of babies
The children of Michael and Iana Straw, a boy age 22 months and a girl age 11 months, were severely malnourished and near death last month when doctors saw them after social workers took them to a hospital, authorities said. Both children are doing well and gaining weight in foster care, prosecutor Kelli Ann Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal. Viloria said the Reno couple were too distracted by online video games, mainly the fantasy role-playing “Dungeons & Dragons” series, to give their children proper care. “They had food; they just chose not to give it to their kids because they were too busy playing video games,” Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal. Police said hospital staff had to shave the head of the girl because her hair was matted with cat urine. The 10-pound girl also had a mouth infection, dry skin and severe dehydration. Her brother had to be treated for starvation and a genital infection. His lack of muscle development caused him difficulty in walking, investigators said.
I’ve always felt that there’s something wrong with the idea that the mere fact of being an adult and being in possession of functional plumbing means that you ipso facto have the right to bear and raise children. No, I’m not about to advocate eugenics, but stories like this make me wonder if a version of that concept might not be a bad idea. After all, one needs a license to drive, own a business, or hunt and fish, but any adult that can figure a way to combine sperm and egg can make a baby- never mind the fact that they may lack the maturity and wherewithal necessity to care for that child.
I don’t know what the answer to this dilemma is, and I’m not about to head in that direction. The last thing I want is government or an agency of self-righteous Christians zealots deciding who is or is not worthy of bearing children. Still and all, when the end result is occasionally human train wrecks like the Straws, I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t a better way.
The Internet is not the problem here. The problem is a set of parents more interested in their own gratification than those of their children. The Straws are a perfect example of a couple who frankly don’t deserve to have children. Yeah, I realize that arguing for sterilization is going to make me sound like Josef Mengele, but if you’ve got a better idea I’m all ears. Somehow, society needs to ensure that the Straws are forbidden from bringing any more children into the world…not that I have any idea how this can be accomplished without creating the reality of Big Brother making and enforcing breeding decisions.
It’s not just a cute little baby, y’all. It’s a commitment of at least 18 years, and if you’re going to bring a child into this world, you’d better be prepared for that commitment. If not, you have no business bringing a child into this world. Either that, or you’d best find an adoption agency.
There are few things that anger me like child neglect. To my way of thinking, the wanton and willful neglect of a child is one of the most heinous crimes imaginable. Neither one of these DUMB@$$E$ should ever be allowed to see the light of day as free individuals again…but you can be that this won’t happen. In fact, they’ll likely be welcoming another addition to the family in the near future…another child condemned to a life of neglect and abuse.
And we as a society will have failed yet another child….
