"Northumberland County Sheriff, Chuck Wilkins, said "This really is a story of miracles. The Lord was with him, along with everybody else on the highway."

*Cringes*

CrafterMan:
"Northumberland County Sheriff, Chuck Wilkins, said "This really is a story of miracles. The Lord was with him, along with everybody else on the highway."

*Cringes*

Yeah, I'm not quite sure what the Lord had to do with it, but it certainly wasn't a miracle that he crashed. This is merely a wake-up call for these parents that they should have the responsibility to make sure their six year-old child is fed and gets to school on time.

And here we have another bad image on gaming because of bad parenting. These games are rated for a reason and then the parents have the nerve to say it's the games fault instead of addmitting they were wrong.

I am very suprised how the 6-year-old was able to get so far though, even more suprised he reached the pedals, but it makes me wonder where the keys were left for the child to have access. Why didn't the parents make sure he got on the bus either?

And why did they give him a game that is 3 TIMES his age limit!?

I call "complete fabrication" on this whole story.

Even if the car was an automatic, negating the nigh-impossibility of figuring out gear changing at six years old, not to mention starting the car moving, a six year old cannot operate the accelerator pedal and hope to see over the steering wheel. Completely blind, he may have made it a block before he crashed, but five miles?

No chance. Never happened.

Eh.....they can be bad parents or ones that instill the need of school in the heart of a little boy.

;)

One question I have is how he planned to hit the brakes and see above the dashboard at the same time.

w-uno:
I call "complete fabrication" on this whole story.

Even if the car was an automatic, negating the nigh-impossibility of figuring out gear changing at six years old, not to mention starting the car moving, a six year old cannot operate the accelerator pedal and hope to see over the steering wheel. Completely blind, he may have made it a block before he crashed, but five miles?

No chance. Never happened.

Tell that to Chicago News, The Washington Post, Kotaku, Yahoo!, CBS, and the others that have articles reporting on it.

He doesn't give a shit about P.E. - he just wanted an excuse to go on a crazy road rampage.

"It was for a good cause!"

Guys, we should have done this when we were kids. Commit crimes when we could actually get away with them.

w-uno:
I call "complete fabrication" on this whole story.

Even if the car was an automatic, negating the nigh-impossibility of figuring out gear changing at six years old, not to mention starting the car moving, a six year old cannot operate the accelerator pedal and hope to see over the steering wheel. Completely blind, he may have made it a block before he crashed, but five miles?

No chance. Never happened.

Smells like a great big cover-up. I wouldn't be surprised if the mother was a member of "mothers against video games" or something like that.
When I was six I could barely see over the dashboard.

seydaman:
gah horrible parenting at its worst. ):

You can't exactly blame the parents. I'm with Joystickjuni3 on this. The article doesn't say where his parents were and why he was missing that class. And er, what six-year-old kid goes "Oh, I don't wanna miss class so I'll drive to school?"

WTF humanity? WTF?

Radelaide:

seydaman:
gah horrible parenting at its worst. ):

You can't exactly blame the parents. I'm with Joystickjuni3 on this. The article doesn't say where his parents were and why he was missing that class. And er, what six-year-old kid goes "Oh, I don't wanna miss class so I'll drive to school?"

WTF humanity? WTF?

i also blame humanity

Samah:

w-uno:
I call "complete fabrication" on this whole story.

Even if the car was an automatic, negating the nigh-impossibility of figuring out gear changing at six years old, not to mention starting the car moving, a six year old cannot operate the accelerator pedal and hope to see over the steering wheel. Completely blind, he may have made it a block before he crashed, but five miles?

No chance. Never happened.

too many plot holes...
Smells like a great big cover-up. I wouldn't be surprised if the mother was a member of "mothers against video games" or something like that.
When I was six I could barely see over the dashboard.

acer840:
And here we have another bad image on gaming because of bad parenting. These games are rated for a reason and then the parents have the nerve to say it's the games fault instead of addmitting they were wrong.

I am very suprised how the 6-year-old was able to get so far though, even more suprised he reached the pedals, but it makes me wonder where the keys were left for the child to have access. Why didn't the parents make sure he got on the bus either?

And why did they give him a game that is 3 TIMES his age limit!?

yes where did he get the game and the keys? my parents wouldn't buy me M rated games. and they take the keys when they leave the house

Wow.. just.. wow.

I would like to know where the parents were during all this..

but kudos to the kid.. at 6 years of age I was busy throwing dirt around and picking my nose.. driving a car.. that is one talented kid.

vid20:
Wow.. just.. wow.

I would like to know where the parents were during all this..

As far as I can tell, the mum was asleep. We are talking 7:20 in the morning.

I think the reactions on the parents are a bit harsh. This could really happen to anyone, leave your keys in the car and you think you kid is off on the school bus. Taking the kids away is mad harsh, this is just an adventurous/dumb kid.

Oh god... Soccor moms are going to have a hay-day with this one...

the kid is dumb as shit. parents are even dumber

Look at it this way, I was playing Wolfenstein 3D back when I was 4 and DOOM by age 5 and have been a FPS fan ever since. In that respect I disagree that six year olds should not be playing violent games. I did it and I turned out normal *twitch* *froth* *twitch*

I think it is more about teaching children about morality and why we have rules and more importantly pointing out the difference between escapist entertainment (be it movies, video games or even books) and real life. I never as a child had the urge to go on a killing spree with a BFG9000 in one hand and a chainsaw in the other because I was taught the difference between real life and entertainment. Same can go for movies, I have been watching violent movies for ever and again don't get the urge to chase hookers around my apartment complex with a chainsaw.

The solution, I don't think, is to withhold such things from children, but to be able to educate them about the difference between Arnie and themselves. My parents did a bang up job of doing that and I thank them for it. Teaching children the difference between right and wrong is what the most important thing is.

WOW...My P.E. class was never that Fun!.lol...i hate it when people blame societys ills on GTA! Jack thompson is up to his old tricks again!

The_root_of_all_evil:
Northumberland County Sheriff, Chuck Wilkins, said "This really is a story of miracles. The Lord was with him, along with everybody else on the highway."

He didn't hit anyone because of the awesome hand-eye coordination he had developed from video-games. Nothing to do with this "Lord" fellow.

See! Video-games don't indoctrinate kids with laziness, in fact they fuel a new found enthusiasm to get to their physical education classes.

omg this is the funniest shit i've ever heard. i want to meet the kid.

here read this

http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/archive/2009/01/06/six-year-old-drives-himself-to-school-after-missing-bus.aspx

or watch this

http://video.aol.com/video/six-year-old-tries-to-drive-himself-to-school/2379413

GTA doesn't actually tell you anything about driving a car...

Ok, I watched the news report, the parents and the baby sitter were getting the little brother ready in the other room.

So where the hell do they get the child endangerment part?!

And don't even tell me it has to do with him playing GTA, cuz that is just BULLSHIT. The cops DID NOT charge them for letting the kid play any games, let alone GTA.

So, you are in the other room getting your other child ready for the day, and your 6 year old decides to steal your car for a drive. Considering all these cops and lawmakers at some point in thier life have had to have left a young child alone in another room before, so there's obviously nothing criminal there, where do they get off with charging child endangerment? I mean seriously these days with violence cropping up more in schools it's almost more of an endangerment to send your kid to school at all.

I would have done this to get to PE, if i didn't live 5 minutes walk away.....and my mum owned a car.....and if these games were even out when I was that age.....and my parents at the time were that irresponsible

The_root_of_all_evil:
6 Year Old Drives To School Courtesy Of "GTA Skills"

After bending the car around the pole, he got out and started walking into school. Does anyone like P.E. that much?

Hmmm... sounds like something i would do to get OUT of P.E. class! XD

Piemaster:
GTA doesn't actually tell you anything about driving a car...

Yes, that also another point, GTA doesn't tell you how to drive a car.
If i was 6 years old in a car after playing GTA, it'll be more like
"Where is the R2 Button to go forwards?"

merf1350:

The cops DID NOT charge them for letting the kid play any games, let alone GTA.

This is very true. The kid himself volunteered that information as he was being taken to hospital as reference to why he thought he could drive.

You always report the best news, Mike. :) No wonder he crashed anyway, if GTA 4 taught you to drive who wouldn't be a horrible driver?

How could the child see were he was going and press the pedals at the same time?

There is absolutely no similarity between pressing UP to accelerate and driving an actual car. You might as well say playing Doom helped you operate a washing machine. Theres something funny going on here...

This is by far the most idiotic thing I've heard in a while. This is also in the same week, I learned of a chick making philosophy posts while naked... I think she was inspired by naked news...

Also when i was six i was playing red alert 1 and i never biult an army of soviets to drive me to PE class in a big mammoth tank.

I wonder if the parents would really NEED to watch him every second to prevent stuff like this if they had actually taught him right from wrong in the first place, instead of dumping him in front of the electronic babysitter every chance they got.

And don't tell me I'm jumping to conclusions. Any parent who lets their child play Grand Theft Auto is not supervising their child properly.

I had my first fps at 6 years, but i havent shot anyone lately...