Wow, only one of those 3 headlines mentions the kid was wet. That's one of the first things I learned in my Media Writing Class - make sure your headline doesn't change the context of the article you are reporting on.

While it is bad normally, that is just reckless sensationalism.

I agree with you on this one 100%. What was on the other end of that power cord makes no differences whatsoever. With anti-videogame hysteria being what it is, the papers have snapped it up like the jackals they are. Hell has a special place for people who falsely make use of a child's death to further their own selfish goals.

This gives a whole new meaning to "Nintendo Power!"

Poor Video Games, they don't get a break this year it seems.

Maybe people will eventually start focusing on issues that actually are a problem in society rather than diverting their attention to what is easiest.

Like Racism! I for one hate Jews. There...talk about that.

(Coincidentally I am Jewish)

I woke up to this this morning and was pretty shocked that the headline.

Only think more shocking was the fact that it wasn't the Daily Mail leading the charge.

Thoughts goes to the family. Not a nice thing for any parent to deal with.

All right, uh, I couldn't find your toys, so, uh, why don't you just play with this blow dryer and these rattles.

Well, guess that's it. Well, you probably want me to get out of your hair, so, uh, here's the Drano in case there's a clog. Soap's right there next to the radio and, uh, towels are on the roof. So, uh, good night.

Sad story. I'm sorry but the island of Phuket...Had to giggle a little.

I still can't get over the name of the island where they were vacationing....who thought naming that island Phuket would be a good idea?

'Gameboy shock' kills wet boy - itv News

I try to avoid all articles about wet boys in phuket. Could get me in trouble at work.

@harkonnen

Hilarious Family Guy reference!!!! Peter Rocks!!! Only secong to Stewie!!!

But this is very sad that the media has to do that. But its their job...what else could you think!!

NINTENDO FANBOY VIEW(just for kicks): First off condolences to the family, but in the end...this is all a setup by Sony...they saw they was losing to the Wii...and especially to the DS, so to give us(Nintendo) a bad image, they made sure the media told them it was a GAMEBOY...not just an electronic device.

Horrible thing to have happened to a kid... But that was one of the first lessons my parents EVER taught me: Never stick anything in an electrical outlet, or get any water near any.

Kids will be kids though, I guess. My brother actually stuck a fork in an outlet once, was shocked for a good 7 seconds, and he turned out (relatively) okay... Jeez, how much more does being wet actually add to the shock?

The headlines are a bit sensationalistic, sure. I wouldn't go so far as to worry about what under-informed headline-reading parents are going to think, though.

Frankly, headlines like that will probably make parents take notice. And maybe some of them will go over electricity safety with their children. Sounds like a good thing to me.

"If it bleeds, it leads."

Sadly, the mainstream media will likely never change from this fear mongering and reality distortion. It's all about moving papers after all...who needs the facts?!?

holy crapstick what kind of voltage runs to outlets there? certainly not 120, which isn't *that* dangerous

I'm guessing there was probably no circuit breaker either?

damn....... Xmas present.

At least it'll only kill GameBoy sales and not DS. *shrugs* As for Johann's comment on parents going over electricity safety with their children, I agree completely. Hopefully parents won't take the "I'm not buying my child a GameBoy" route.

As for the UK media, that's them all over. They just pull everything out of complete context. They did the same thing with the Wii-remote and the "wrist strap issue" on channel 4 news @ 7.

It was an accident, and unfortunately accidents like that happen.It's not any person,video game handheld,or corporate entity's fault the little boy got electrcuted.The little guy made a simple mistake people make every day.Unfortunately it's a mistake that often costs people hteir lives.

I feel horrible for his parents.

ginrei724.

not sure about the added voltage of water, but water is a conductor. besides not sure if you are in america or not but American plugs are 110-120 volts. where most european plugs are 220-240 volts.

do you think they would've had the same title if he had been unplugging a laptop? i don't. that's ridiculous, incredibly. it's like they are encouraging lawsuits. altho this didn't happen in the u.s. so i'm sure Nintendo has nothing to worry about. i feel so bad for that family.

I agree - unprofessional journalism!

The Toaster industry is next...

I await the Daily Mail's comment with baited breath.

Blame the water! We all should ban water from our lifes because it kills 7 year old kids! Also, lawsuit all energy companies!After all it was really the electricity that killed him! But do NEVER and I say NEVER blame the parents for letting a 7 year old kid be around electrical sockets wet!

Wow, for the people not reporting that the kid was soaken wet ... seriously unprofessional journalism.

am I the only one that thinks this is a serious non-issue? I think a lot of videogame fans are really looking to be persecuted...

Parents aren't as dumb as you might think. This won't "kill sales" of anything. Even the "real" controversies (Hot Coffee, etc) usually end up having little to no effect. Everyone should just chill out.

There aren't too many other objects that a child would actually be plugging or unplugging from an outlet other than video game consoles. Most toys still use conventional batteries which I guess saved my life as a kid, pumping 4 AA batteries every few hours into my 3lb spinach colored screen gameboy.

It is still neglectful of a newspaper to slam "GAME BOY" into every title as kids still get shocked to mental retardation and or death by playing with electricity. Its also neglectful of the parents to not teach their kids about water + electricity = dead.

Blame the water! We all should ban water from our lifes because it kills 7 year old kids! Also, lawsuit all energy companies!After all it was electricity that killed him! But do NEVER and I say NEVER blame the parents for letting a 7 year old kid around a electric socket, wet!

Gadgetron says:

This gives a whole new meaning to "Nintendo Power!"

Damn! You made me laugh out loud at work!

"....unprofessional sensationalism."

Very sad indeed. I don't know the specific details, and my sympathy is totally with the parents, but why did a 7 year old kid get so close to an electrical outlet while being wet?

Kids that age need definitive supervision. At least that's my take based on my outrage.

Meh! that's British tabloids for you, and let's face it ITV news is pretty much a televised tabloid. Only the Broadsheets show much sensitivity nowadays - as far as that goes. BBC is still good for straight news, but even they are verging towards sensationalism. Still it's not as bad as some of the so called 'news' you American's have to put up with.

AlteredBeast says:

Damn! You made me laugh out loud at work!

I second that..

Phantum Zero says:
Sad story. I'm sorry but the island of Phuket...Had to giggle a little.

It's only funny if you don't know that it's pronounced poo-ket. (I agree, sad story.)

A GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) outlet would have saved him. A GFCI outlet monitors the current on both prongs of the outlet. If the current going in differs from the current coming out, the GFCI circuit interrupts the path. If the current goes through you, into the ground, the power is cut almost instantly.

More info:
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/gfci

GFCI outlets are very easy to install and aren't that expensive. So who is really at fault here? The builder? The owners of the pool? No, nobody is. It is a horrible accident that could have been prevented, but accidents don't have to be anyone's fault.

@JasonR - Yeah I was going to say, reminds me of http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/360/microsoft-rep-says-hddvd-...

This is standard UK media crap, most people know not to take things by the headlines anymore

If there is one country that makes even our sensationalist journalism look good, its Britain where even their dignified newspapers look like the Sun.

I was looking around and this article auctually states that the wiring in the hotel was faulty.

http://www.boomtown.net/en_uk/articles/art.view.php?id=131...

I went over about 5 of them on google news before I seen this.

-Luke

When I was a kid I once plugged in a lamp while my hands were wet, and to top it off, somehow I managed to be touching the actual prong of the cord as I was doing it. Got a shock that made my arm numb for 5 minutes or so. Moral of the story, whether or not the parents taught the kid about electrical safety, sometimes shit still happens.

I can't help but think this wouldn't have happened with a Gamegear, or a Wonderswan.

Condolences to the family for such a tragic accident, a bright light of hope passing away.

I seen this story last night on Tv was at work today so luckily picked up the mirrio on my break.

Distraught mum Kathleen Curry, 45, who found his lifeless body on the floor, said: "We're all devastated." Kathleen, who bought the charger in Thailand, said: "My son was only unplugging his Game Boy - he does it all the time at home.

"She said Connor was aware of the dangers of electricity and denied claims he plugged in the charger while still wet from swimming."

Meh?

I picked up the mirrorat work today whilst on my break and it read this:

"She said Connor was aware of the dangers of electricity and denied claims he plugged in the charger while still wet from swimming."

Dam posting

@dowingba - Hahah, the same thing happened to me only it was when I was trying to unplug my computer monitor when I was 15 or so. It was like stuck in the damn outlet and I was pulling, and readjusting to get a better grip. Well I had pulled it out enough that when I went to grab it again, my finger went inbetween the plug and the wall and bvvvvvvvvvvvvttt.

It more or less just felt like my arm was vibrating but there was no pain. Regardless, I've been pretty damn careful about unplugging shit since then.

>>A GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) outlet would have saved him.

I'm not so sure about its availability/utility in Thailand (IIRC, that's where Phuket is)...I was reading an article on power outlets last night on Wikipedia (meh, at least it's a mundane and undertouched article) and one plug I saw in it supports both standard North American dual blade or dual blade + ground plug and most dual plug style european plugs.

My understanding is that since most euro plugs are set for 220-240V, it's particuarly lethal if you end up getting shocked. Even if you are wet and you end up getting zapped by something like a light switch here in the states (110-120V), it's enough to give you quite a jolt, but not kill you.

Or am I wrong and it's not the voltage that kills, but the amperage?

Either way, this is particularly painful...no parent should ever have to lose their kid, especially like this, especially on vacation.

I'm not sure how Phuket laws are arranged... but I thought it was NECESSARY to have a GFCI protecting any area around pools/hot tubs etc.
One simple measure could have saved the kid.

Yet I still think the parents are partially responsible. This is something every child should be taught... much like the fact that electronics should not be unplugged by pulling on the cord, as this too could lead to electricution. It's a luxury that has become so common that people have lost a fear for it.

I think we should all play a gameboy gaming round for him! his death was in service of his hobby, and we, as hobbyist in the same hobby, should take notice and play a good session!

Or at the very least, instead of playing a session, have a moment of silence and go enjoy a family moment! (or those with Wii's may be able to have both!)

Well, if she's saying that now, then it is to take the blame off of her, make her kid loook less ignorant, and sets her up to file lawsuits. If the kid was wet, it makes her look irresponsible and she'd have a hard time suing anybody.

Steveht, the Jaguar had a catastrophic death toll, though.

Kid gets wet, touches a wired appliance. Tragic story. I live in the UK but as far as I can tell all parents seem to be informing kids about the dangers of water + electricity, even if it isn't fatal over here.

The UK's press is even more disgusting than the US. On the other hand this kind of crap doesn't keep getting printed without the audience creating a demand for it.

While I'd love to blame the kid for being so damn stupid, I suppose it is the parents' fault, if they never taught him that "water and electricity don't mix", as others have said. My own parents drummed that particular mantra into my skull from as early as I can remember. Anyway, it's sad that the press have chosen to use the incident to slam Nintendo, rather than reinforcing the need for kids to learn home safety.

European mains voltage is indeed twice as large as US voltage, but the US supply is DC (direct current), meaning it always flows in one direction. This means that if you get a shock, it "grips" you, so you can't let go. The EU supply on the other hand is AC, which constantly switches direction and doesn't "grip", so you only get a brief shock.

Falconfire says:
If there is one country that makes even our sensationalist journalism look good, its Britain where even their dignified newspapers look like the Sun.

Maybe, but there's really no British equivalent to Fox News - the most shockingly biased load of crap you can watch.

Thailand's voltage is 220-240AC, 50 Hertz.

At least he was a gamer. R.I.P. Little guy!

You are right there sanjiyan, the voltage is irrelevant, it is the current that kills you. Whether it was 110v or 230v wouldn't have matter. It was probably a combination of poor wiring and an accident.

By the way Tesla knew that high voltage wasn't dangerous, to the point he experimented on himself. He used himself as a conductor for 40kV+ in one experiment.

Tesla=a very cool man

its a tragic story but regarding the press; its not their job to be responsible and objective, its their job to sell units - and more often than not that comes through sensationalism in the short term (yes i know they would sell more if they were ethical and informative in the long term), it comes down to the reader really. learn to be media literate. its a kind of escalation but you can stop the rags from being that way so the best defence is learning to read the truth from their half-truths.

Maybe I'm not the best person to be preaching about responsible journalism

Damn right!!!

Anyway, what else do you expect from tabloids? Its a shame, but it happens.

Condolences for the boys family. Its devastating to loose your child at the start of a new year, let alone any time.

Whoever laughed at the "Nintendo POWER" comment should check out the comments by Jerk Face in the same story on Joystiq. I nearly spit out my coke at my desk.

Comments are #2 and #16.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/05/nintendo-responds-to-gam...