Real Baby Dies as Parents Raise Virtual Daughter

I was watching the news recently and was, quite frankly, shocked at what I heard. It was only a short clip of a story but it certainly grabbed my full attention to the point where I felt the need to search and find out more information.

In South Korea, a couple addicted to computer games let their real life baby starve to death while raising a virtual daughter online. According to various articles I read, the couple spent up to 12 hours per day at an Internet cafe while their 3 month old daughter was left home alone at their apartment in Suwon, South Korea. They raised their avatar baby, named Anima, through their profiles on a Second Life-style game called PRIUS, while their real daughter was given just one bottle of milk a day.

The couple was reported to be on the run since their daughter died in September and was finally arrested five months after reporting the baby's death. The autopsy revealed that the infant girl had indeed died of malnutrition, a severe sign of neglect on the part of the parents.

In the Fox News article, I found the comments made by Dr. Keith Ablow to be very interesting. Ablow stated that "humans are at a critical moment in society — "when our fascination with online activities is beginning to eclipse our attention to reality." He believes that sites like Second Life can cleave vulnerable people from their genuine relationships and emotions and turn them into "pretenders" who live a fake, if not delusional, existence." I agree with Dr. Ablow to a point. Technology is a extremely useful tool in today's world when used in moderation. Connecting has never been easier to do and entertainment for example YouTube and online gaming, like Second Life, is constantly been taken to the next level providing us with fantastic experiences that allow us, for the moment, to ignore or escape reality. The problem occurs when it is taken to the extreme, as seen in this case.

Everything PR 's article on this story raises a very good point when it states that the a person should "use the virtual environment as a point of inspiration for what [they] want to do in the physical world, and [then proceed to] create your own reality."

Looking at this issue from a teacher's perspective, technology is a great tool to use in the classroom and the power of it in society should not be ignored. However, technology awareness needs to be taught right along side with the "How to's" in order to aid students in maintaining a healthy balance between their virtual and real lives.