In line with our recent focus on game-fearing, god-fearing gibbering, is this newest blinkered column from rosy-complected "parenting expert", John Rosemond:

When video games first came out, I warned my readers that they were not appropriate for children. I maintained they were not games; rather, they produced stress and were addictive, literally. It was not a popular stance.

Since then, hundreds of parents have shared with me their negative experiences with these nefarious devices.

Hahahaha "nefarious!" Gold. The anecdote he pastes from one of his faithfully flummoxed readers is not all hooey, however. Any kind of toy can be disruptive to children, if not mediated properly.

It all comes back to the parenting. I should know, as I am typing this from atop my gently undulating pile of recently-extruded larval spawn. It's very possible that this mother made the right choice in removing the Xbox. It sounds like her kids, previously raised entirely on Tinkertoys, were simply not accustomed to the console and couldn't handle the stimulus. Their little luddite heads simply swelled up and exploded, showering their screaming parents with skull fragments and delicious Cadbury Cr me Egg filling.

This, sweet readers, is the price of fun. ELIZA GAUGER

John Rosemond is all snide and slimy. [Charlotte Observer, via 1up]