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Seven year old joyrider
Categories: Kids 5-7, In The News
When Latarain Milton got mad at his mother, he grabbed the car keys and a friend and took off.
The difference between Latarain's story and the hundreds of other guys who rip out of driveways to cool off is that Latarain is only seven years old.
The little boy, who could barely see over the steering wheel, traveled about six miles on busy Florida streets before totaling the vehicle. And because driving a real vehicle is a lot different than driving one in a video game, he also left a trail of destruction in his wake. Along the way, Latarain smashed mailboxes and damaged several cars (parked and moving) before breaking an axle on his grandmother's Durango. Neither Latarain nor his passenger were injured during their little escapade.
Even more frightening than a seven-year-old joyrider is Latarain's attitude. The child appears to have no remorse and told reporters he thinks a weekend without video games is a suitable punishment. He also said, "It's fun to do bad things" and that he "just wants to do hood-rat things with his friends."
Police are charging Latarain with grand theft to get him into the legal system and get him the help he needs.
Suddenly, the milk left out on the counter or the kids forgetting to flush doesn't seem so bad, does it?!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rob O. 4-28-2008 @ 2:39PM
Although you don't mention it, I feel certain that this boy's behaviors are shaped to some degree by video games and/or movies he's watched repeatedly.
Video games simply aren't what they once were. Kids today aren't shooting vague little alien spaceship squiggles that bleep & vanish when hit. They're gunning down very realistic human beings with weapons accurately modeled after actual munitions. And the themes of today's games - like the Grand Theft Auto series you pulled your thumbnail image from - tend to towards disturbingly grisly, gratuitous, and often glorify self-centered violence.
The graphics power of today's game systems has made it all too easy to generate games that are shockingly realistic. Brings back to mind the motto, "Just because you can do a thing, doesn't mean you should."
It is refreshing to see how popular the Wii and it's simpler, more activity-based games are becoming, but there's still far too many of the other kinds of games and far too little involvement from the parents.
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Heather 4-28-2008 @ 4:49PM
OMG!! It is ALWAYS about the video games isn't it!!! My husband is an AVID gamer and I have NO problems with him and my 5 yo playing games together. The problem is that people now days aren't telling kids that video games are FAKE!!! If you sit your kids down and tell them that what they are playing is a game and if you did these kinds of things in real life there would be very serious consequences. People need to quit blaming video games, TV, and movies for BAD PARENTING!!!
Absolute Vengeance 5-07-2008 @ 2:24PM
Hey Rob-O,
Arrogance Planet Population: 1 - YOU.
Video game ratings are created to mirror the same type of content you would see in movies rated the same way.
M = R rated movies
Teen = PG-13
11+ = PG
E for Everyone = G
If parents dont monitor what their children do/watch in their free time then they are to blame. Sure, the average brainless posters/thread readers on the Internet like Rob-O dont have a clue, but it doesnt mean they shouldnt get one either.
This kid is ghetto... thats it, has nothing to do with video games, but more what he is watching on MTV, without a real roll model to tell him the difference between decent and bad behavior.
ALL HAIL METAL
myspace.com/AbsoluteVengeance
Reply
Rob O. 4-28-2008 @ 10:18PM
Well, actually, I sorta agree with you Heather - to a degree. Sure, active parenting goes a long way towards making a child understand the difference between pretend and real.
However, do you really want to continually expose your child to things that you have to, in turn, explain away? Isn't the better, healthier choice to simply not allow such violent games and movies into your home? Is there any reason at all that a child should be playing video games for which the object is to kill other humans?
Regardless of whether the game's bad guys are WWII Nazis or Mid-Eastern Extremists, making a game out of killing other people is simply inappropriate for children - and maybe not even all that suitable for adults!
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