7 year old steals car to avoid church

[Nate]

Taken from GamePolitics.

Last Sunday morning, a Utah police officer chased a car that blew through stop signs and narrowly missed a pedestrian. Imagine the pursuing cop’s surprise when the car came to a stop and out popped a 7-year-old boy.

On Thursday, Captain Klint Anderson of the Weber County Sheriff’s Office spoke of the incident to Fox News. Young Preston Scarbrough told police he had taken the family car because he didn’t want to go to church that morning (he later told his mom he just wanted to give driving a go).

So why was this on GamePolitics? Well, when Fox reported on the story, it was mentioned by Captain Anderson that the father had grounded the boy from video games, which is a pretty standard punishment for being bad. However, the good Captain for some reason felt the need to say "his father has grounded him from one of his video games which involves operating vehicles" as if the boy could play other games, just not that particular one.

The correspondent then asked "Something like Grand Theft Auto?" to which the Captain said he didn't know, the father hadn't said, but that some of those video games could be "pretty realistic."

Right, because pressing X on a controller is exactly like driving a car. But anyway...

For his part, the kid when asked "How did you learn to drive?" answered "Watched my mom. Watched my sister."

Aside from the sheer stupidity of the, ahem, "news" channel assuming asinine things about video game involvement, it's a pretty interesting story, though I don't know what else to say about it. The first thing that jumped to my mind is that this boy stole a car and led police on a high speed chase to avoid church, which makes me think hard about how right it is to force children to go somewhere they don't want to. That might spark theological debate though so it's probably best not to go down that road.

Oh, and for those wondering. Yes, he was too short to reach the pedals, so what he'd do is scoot down in the chair and press down on the accelerator and then slide back up so he could see over the wheel, which caused him to go up and down in speed.

The Captain also said that surprisingly the kid was a pretty good driver and that some adults could learn how to drive from him. XD

[Cognitive Gear]

Pretty funny story, outside of the "fair and balanced" news report.

I do wonder what it is about the church that the family attends which makes this kid not want to go. I always enjoyed Sunday School as a kid.

[Amzi Live]

Ha!
I had heard this on the radio. It's quite funny. xP
Wish I had a kid like that. J/K
Weird I also began thinking to what level should a parent go in trying to get his kid go to church,but anyways.

I'm with Cognitive. I also enjoyed attending Sunday School,so I guess that it might have to do with the way the kids are handled at church or if the kid gets bored easily. Of course,it could just be that the kid was smarter than I was,and did what I'd never dared to do the few times I just wanted to stay watching cartoons playing VGs or just sleeping. By stealing my father's car.

[Sanji07]

Besides the reason why the boy was driving the car, I find this pretty humorous. It's a blessing no one got hurt. I doubt I would have done anything like this when I was younger due to a strong conscious (or OCD XP) and fear of getting punished. Besides, I've had (and sometimes still do) have nightmares of driving a car. Man, those dreams are wild. X_X;;

[uc pseudonym]

The video games aspect is also relevant because after this, the seven year old kid hired a prostitute to regain health and then shot her to keep his money.

[Bobtheduck]

Since this was in Utah... I'm thinking maybe the kid was dreading having to pick up one of those Mormon doctrine books... Those things are heavy. I wouldn't want a workout like that every Sunday.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

The video games aspect is also relevant because after this, the seven year old kid hired a prostitute to regain health and then shot her to keep his money.

I lol'd

[rocklobster]

Next thing you know, Jack Thompson will use this against us. Mark my words.

[Fish and Chips]

Next thing you know, Jack Thompson will use this against us. Mark my words.

Jack Thompson the disbarred attorney? Or is there some other guy calling himself Jack Thompson now?

[Makachop^^128]

when I was little I remember thinking of trying to do that because my parents wanted me to go to sunday school lol

[blkmage]

Jack Thompson the disbarred attorney? Or is there some other guy calling himself Jack Thompson now?

It's not like that's stopped him before.

[Jingo Jaden]

Well, can't see any clear mention of GTA being the game he had. I don't think 7 year olds should be near that particular game and if he had it then it only does enlarge the problem which I think has a lot of grounding when it comes parenting. Now, I would imagine that if a kid really did not want to go to church or anywhere else for that matter, it would do a heck of alot of kicking and screaming before stealing a car. Probably to the point that the parents should get the idea and while children have to learn somewhere along the line that they cannot always be where they want to be, this is probably to a more extreme level which should have shown symptoms of the problem in previous visits and while I am not suggesting he was scouting for cars to steal back then, the kid obviously should show extreme discomfort before going to the extent of stealing a car. If not then it is a very strange case.

As far as the whole videogame theme goes, if he was 7 years old and had access to a game like GTA then one has to take into consideration the absorbing ability of these youngsters. Sure, they won't try to use a playstation control to steer a car, but these kids more often can than cannot connect dots. The thing is that somewhere along the lines all kids need to touch base and go over the basics of life with a responsible adult. There can be little doubt that with a bit of that then the kid could have avoided such a great risk to his life. With advertisements of action movies all around, the dvd's kids will watch at their friends house, the easy to bypass restrictions in most cases will lead to pretty much any in that age region getting some 'action' setting influence. Most kids will know that movies are movies, but kids can also get desperate and/or dangerously daring. So again, it goes to the level of parenting unless it is an extreme case and while those are few, they do happen every now and then.

As for Jack Thompson, last I saw of him was at the SGC convention and believe it or not, he acted quite humanly to use those terms. He even got applauded by the gamers in the end. So, whatever he has done after being disbarred, I think it has improved his overall view on the case. Seems to have shifted most of his focus on the young children and their access to really violent videogames which is a perfectly logical debate.

[Nate]

Besides, I've had (and sometimes still do) have nightmares of driving a car. Man, those dreams are wild. X_X]
Eh don't worry too much. When you get old enough to drive I'm sure you'll be fine. XD Driving isn't too frightening, honestly. Unless you live in New York City or something.

I do wonder what it is about the church that the family attends which makes this kid not want to go.

Some have said that perhaps he was being abused, sexually or otherwise, at his church, and thus why he felt the need to go to such extremes to avoid the place. Of course, this is merely a theory that probably opponents of religion have put forth, and there's no evidence that this is the case, so it probably shouldn't be taken TOO seriously. That's not to say that it should be discarded completely though.

had access to a game like GTA then one has to take into consideration the absorbing ability of these youngsters. Sure, they won't try to use a playstation control to steer a car, but these kids more often can than cannot connect dots.

"Absorbing ability?" He said he learned to drive from watching his mom and his sister do it. It's impossible to learn how to drive a car from a video game controller, and it's impossible to learn how to shoot a gun from a video game controller. All a video game will do is teach you how to press X to not die.

Think about it, honestly. If playing a video game taught you how to drive a car, then why doesn't the DMV use a video game for driving tests? It would be cheaper than using real cars (because they wouldn't have to buy gas, keep the car maintained, etc.) and it would be less dangerous (no chance of auto accidents, running over someone, etc.). The fact that they are not proves that video games cannot impart this information.

As for Jack Thompson, last I saw of him was at the SGC convention and believe it or not, he acted quite humanly to use those terms. He even got applauded by the gamers in the end. So, whatever he has done after being disbarred, I think it has improved his overall view on the case. Seems to have shifted most of his focus on the young children and their access to really violent videogames which is a perfectly logical debate.

First, he acts completely different in real life than he does in other venues. Considering Jack Thompson is the person who has said "Why don't you go buy a suicide game and get really good at it?" in one email, has posted a picture of Hiroshima after the atom bomb was dropped and said "This is what your court will look like when I'm done with it, figuratively speaking," sent a letter to a person's MOTHER telling her she did a terrible job raising her son, and in one case (I forget what it relates to) implying that he should commit mass murder.

And all he has done after being disbarred is sit in his house and go "I'm going to be reinstated as a lawyer using my SUPER SECRET PLANS!" and laugh. So far he has obviously been unsuccessful, especially since the Supreme Court of the US denied his case he brought against the Florida Bar. He of course claimed that plan was the least likely to work and that he had four OTHER plans that were so awesome and totally going to get his license back, but so far no details have emerged.

And I don't think most gamers are saying children should be allowed to play violent video games, just that there don't need to be laws against it, and besides, Jack has said from the beginning that his plans were to destroy the video game industry entirely.

Anyway.

Back on topic now! A video I found on Youtube of the incident:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h_krGmcAVk

[Yamamaya]

This seriously made me lol.

Leave it to the news to blame video games. Yes driving games are relatively realistic but the controls are not. The controls are far more sensitive than the wheel of a car.

[Fish and Chips]

It's not like that's stopped him before.

True enough.

As far as the whole videogame theme goes, if he was 7 years old and had access to a game like GTA then one has to take into consideration the absorbing ability of these youngsters. Sure, they won't try to use a playstation control to steer a car, but these kids more often can than cannot connect dots.

Put keys in the ignition, turn, switch from Park to Drive, gas pedal, steer the car.

Press and hold R to accelerate, joystick to turn.

Huh.

[Jingo Jaden]

"Absorbing ability?" He said he learned to drive from watching his mom and his sister do it. It's impossible to learn how to drive a car from a video game controller, and it's impossible to learn how to shoot a gun from a video game controller. All a video game will do is teach you how to press X to not die.

Think about it, honestly. If playing a video game taught you how to drive a car, then why doesn't the DMV use a video game for driving tests? It would be cheaper than using real cars (because they wouldn't have to buy gas, keep the car maintained, etc.) and it would be less dangerous (no chance of auto accidents, running over someone, etc.). The fact that they are not proves that video games cannot impart this information.

This goes partially to what I meant with connecting dots. I too knew how to drive in a basic way a car when I was 9. Watching can be enough to give a kid the ideas of how to drive a car and seeing how most kids are driven around nearly every day, it does not surprise me one bit that a kid would be able to drive a car due to his observations. However, seeing that the basic mechanics of how to drive a car is not that hard I would say that some kids would not have a hard time finding the use of the gas pedal, the breaks or the purpose of the steering wheel by a medium as simple as an arcade game. However, it is irrelevant since that would be a highly unlikely route compared to watching and maybe occasionally asking. That he managed to drive the car does not really shock me, that he managed to navigate a high speed chase however does. I am pretty sure his parents did not teach him that. That aside, if the church was abusive as previously suggested, it would make a whole lot more of sense why he decided to steal a car and drive away. Videogames alone is too simple of an influence for a kid to go to such lenghts in all, but extraordinary cases. It could, but it probably did not. I am guessing as in my original post that it is a result of bad parenting and child neglect.

First, he acts completely different in real life than he does in other venues. Considering Jack Thompson is the person who has said "Why don't you go buy a suicide game and get really good at it?" in one email, has posted a picture of Hiroshima after the atom bomb was dropped and said "This is what your court will look like when I'm done with it, figuratively speaking," sent a letter to a person's MOTHER telling her she did a terrible job raising her son, and in one case (I forget what it relates to) implying that he should commit mass murder.

Any of these matters occurred after the SGC meeting? I am sorry, Jack Thompson is not really on my daily watch. That he has done despicable things in the past is by no means a lightning strike on my end, but managing to even gain applause and acting with humor in front of the screw attack crowd did actually positively impress me since I was expecting a man in a vessel kind of similar to that of a pope mobile pretty much starring up a riot which could be said to be equal to all the other stuff he did before. Reason I mentioned it was that it was the first 'decent' performance I have seen of the guy and it is the last I heard from him.

And I don't think most gamers are saying children should be allowed to play violent video games, just that there don't need to be laws against it, and besides, Jack has said from the beginning that his plans were to destroy the video game industry entirely.

Well, maybe so, but the fact that some children can go into stores and purchase copies of the top violent videogames is still something that could be debated on the grounds of legality. Making it illegal for shop owners to sell M rated games to really young people would not be that much of a problem in my eye. However, seeing that most young people seem to get a hold of those games at any rate via friends or visits then I doubt it would do much overall. Dunno what the laws are over in the states, but in Norway we got a pretty loose rule on this. Some shops do sell violent games to youngsters and others don't. Depends on the store clerk. [/quote]

[Fish and Chips]

Well, maybe so, but the fact that some children can go into stores and purchase copies of the top violent videogames is still something that could be debated on the grounds of legality. Making it illegal for shop owners to sell M rated games to really young people would not be that much of a problem in my eye. However, seeing that most young people seem to get a hold of those games at any rate via friends or visits then I doubt it would do much overall. Dunno what the laws are over in the states, but in Norway we got a pretty loose rule on this. Some shops do sell violent games to youngsters and others don't. Depends on the store clerk.

While I don't think it's actively illegal, it's standard policy not to sell mature rated games without proof of age or parental consent. Which is the problem, usually it's parents buying these games for their kids, or going over to a friends house, or shopping online where age restrictions don't always exist. Making it a punishable offense to sell M rated games to minors really isn't going to dampen how they get their hands on them, or even sales really. As legislation, it'd be almost pointless.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

While I don't think it's actively illegal, it's standard policy not to sell mature rated games without proof of age or parental consent. Which is the problem, usually it's parents buying these games for their kids, or going over to a friends house, or shopping online where age restrictions don't always exist. Making it a punishable offense to sell M rated games to minors really isn't going to dampen how they get their hands on them, or even sales really. As legislation, it'd be almost pointless.

Kotaku ran a segment as to how making it a federal crime to sell M rated games to minors would serious cripple the gaming industry, since nearly all Game retailers take selling M-rated games to minors very seriously. Fining them for doing something wrong when they're already taking many productive measures would only create a whole lot more hurt.

[Yamamaya]

Personally I think they have an effective regulation system for selling M rated games to minors already. Any other restrictions would just be a hamper on the game industry and freedom of expression. It's not the government's job to raise children, that's the parent's job. If the parents are fine with their kids playing an M rated game, then so be it.

I doubt there was actual abuse going on at this church. Children can often be government by capricious notions like this. Kids can often do crazy things if they strongly dislike something their parents are forcing them to do(going to church). Also, it's unlikely the boy understood the serious nature of driving. He probably had no idea that someone could get serious hurt while driving.

[Nate]

That he has done despicable things in the past is by no means a lightning strike on my end, but managing to even gain applause and acting with humor in front of the screw attack crowd did actually positively impress me since I was expecting a man in a vessel kind of similar to that of a pope mobile pretty much starring up a riot which could be said to be equal to all the other stuff he did before. Reason I mentioned it was that it was the first 'decent' performance I have seen of the guy and it is the last I heard from him.

As I said, all of his public appearances, he acts like a good guy and has a sense of humor. It's when you get to his court filings, his emails, and his faxes that the true Jack emerges. Trust me, GamePolitics reports on him frequently, I've known Jack long enough to know he puts on the nice guy face in public and then takes it off everywhere else.

In fact at his recent disbarment trial he basically said outright he'd never stop doing what he does or change his ways. If he showed some effort to act like a decent human being I wouldn't hold his past actions against him either, but the fact that he says it's his First Amendment right to tell gamers to go kill themselves because God told him to say it, and that he'll never stop, is pretty telling.

As for the rest of your statement I won't get into why making it illegal to sell M-rated games to minors is not only a bad idea but also unconstitutional, but that's a thread unto itself. Anyway according to a recent secret shopper survey conducted by the FTC less than 1/4 of children who tried to buy an M-rated game did so successfully, and the number continues to drop.

Anyway this thread is getting horribly off-topic. Let's keep it just to the kid.

I doubt there was actual abuse going on at this church. Children can often be government by capricious notions like this. Kids can often do crazy things if they strongly dislike something their parents are forcing them to do(going to church).

Well, there has to be a reason why he felt the need to go to such lengths. When I was a kid and didn't want to go to school I whined about it but "steal a car and drive away" wasn't really the first option in my mind. Again, not saying there is abuse going on at the church. But the fact that he so desperately felt the need to do this, is indicative of SOMETHING being wrong. Maybe it's the parents being abusive in forcing him to go to church. And by that I don't mean making kids go to church is abusive, I meant that maybe they are being abusive in their forcing (starvation, beating, tying down, etc.).

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Abuse? In the church? Does no one but me remember being SOOO BORED in church as a kid?! When you hear hooves, don't look for zebras. I mean seriously. Maybe the kids just really doesn't actually enjoy church? If you're made to go every week, and you're not really sure why, it can usually turn in to something just like school, but without as much socialization for the kid.

[Cognitive Gear]

Abuse? In the church? Does no one but me remember being SOOO BORED in church as a kid?! When you hear hooves, don't look for zebras. I mean seriously. Maybe the kids just really doesn't actually enjoy church? If you're made to go every week, and you're not really sure why, it can usually turn in to something just like school, but without as much socialization for the kid.

This is pretty much the opposite from what I experienced as a kid. I really enjoyed church when I was young, because Sunday School had more interactive socialization than school did. (Games and whatnot)

Though, the church my family attended was large enough that it separated all of the kids by their age and then letter grade. Also, it tended to comprise of about 15 minutes of songs, 15 minute sermon, then the rest of the time was filled with Bible games and socialization.

Other churches just have the children sit in the main service for the full 2 hours. That wouldn't have been fun.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

We were separated by generaly grouping of school (Preschool, early elementary, late elementary, middle school, highschool) but Sunday School was not very engaging, and we had a traditional service so to a non-spiritual kid that was just... Devestatingly boring. I think about the worst thing you can do to a kid religiously is to bore them in church.

[Yamamaya]

Boredrum can make children do some pretty crazy things.

[F.M Disciple]

Stealing a car to avoid Church? That's extreme

What ever happened to pretending to be sick in order to play hookie? XD

[Fish and Chips]

I'd imagine there are some families that excuse doesn't work for.

[Radical Dreamer]

Abuse? In the church? Does no one but me remember being SOOO BORED in church as a kid?! When you hear hooves, don't look for zebras. I mean seriously. Maybe the kids just really doesn't actually enjoy church? If you're made to go every week, and you're not really sure why, it can usually turn in to something just like school, but without as much socialization for the kid.

XD No, I totally remember this as a kid. When I was little, I didn't like going to church at all, 'cause it meant I had to dress up (usually wearing some uncomfortable get-up that involved tights that didn't fit), go to Sunday School with a teacher who reeked of strong perfume and children I didn't know (and being painfully shy as a kid, I didn't make friends easily), followed by sitting in the main sanctuary for what seemed like hours while drawing pictures and wondering when lunch was. XD Granted, I never wanted to commandeer my parents' car in order to get away, but I don't recall going to church being an enjoyable experience until later in life, when I was old enough and actually started paying attention. XD

On a vaguely related note, I once had a nightmare that my brother decided to drive away from church with me in the car and my parents still inside, and I was terrified because my brother must've been all of 7 years old at the time and he certainly did not have his driver's license and the police were probably going to give him a ticket and put both of us in jail. XDD

I was such a weird little kid. XD

[ShiroiHikari]

I enjoyed church for a few years when I was a kid, but after a little while, I started to hate it. "Big" church was full of old people and after the singing part was over (which I liked), I would just sit by my grandmama and draw pictures the whole time. So it's not out of the question that a kid would dislike going to church because it's boring.

[Shao Feng-Li]

I like how they assume he was influenced by a game he's probably never even played... Because any game involving cars is like GTA?

[NarutoAngel221]

Lol it looks like in Grand theft auto? Ewww....Well I do hope that such child should know the consequences of his action by now