Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:48 pm
oh the herald article was fine, just the tv program was the most biased piece of, literary work, i've ever seen. they got things wrong, and didn't attempt to show the other side, or anything else about the site
Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:00 pm
Oh my, they've taken of tombola and the fruit machine... Could neopets possibly be facing a lawsuit? 
Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:51 pm
...next thing you'll know, they'll have taken the lab ray away too, because it's 'gambling' with your Neopet's colour, specie and stats.
Unimpressed, Australia Media. VERY unimpressed.
Unimpressed, Australia Media. VERY unimpressed.
Wed Oct 13, 2004 1:59 pm
Though I'm not an Aussie...I must say I feel sorry for you guys, as well as (gasp!, dare I say it?) TNT for having to deal with this sort of (in my opinion anyhow) blatant sensationalist garbage some folks are trying to pass off as "credible journalism".
It's as if they are painting over a picture. They take a picture of a quite innocent children's site and with choosing only a few select colors, make it into a raging casino.
If you are a parent (as I am) things in the world seem to take on a different appearance. I can understand that, it has happened to me too. But still, you can't shelter your kids from everything in the world. HOWEVER:
If your child becomes overweight, you shouldn't be blaming McDonalds.
If they start to smoke, the ads from Tobacco industries are not responsible.
If they get into a cult, Harry Potter isn't the man who did it.
If they get addicted to drugs, it's probably better not to sue the vitamin company for "introducing your child to drugs" by using colorful, candy flavored vitamins.
On the same token, If your child becomes a gambler, don't run and blame Neopets.
BLAME YOURSELF.
LACK OF DECENT parenting is what causes undesired behaviors and addictions. If you don't want to talk to your children about the dangers and problems of life, quit trying to find someone else to carry your burden when things go wrong. Sure, environment does indeed play a role, but c'mon...nitpicking everything to the smallest degree (as in the case in discussion at the moment) is a sure way to make something more desireable to a kid by making it an "evil taboo".
You are a parent, and you're not helpless. If you don't approve of what games your kids are playing online, GUESS WHAT? You have the right as a parent to monitor what they do. Not only is it your right, it's your DUTY. Don't like it? Forbid them to go to the site in question, but don't expect what YOU decide personally should be implicated on all the other children, that's a decision up to their parents to make....their view may differ from yours. You shouldn't be running to the newspapers saying "This site is bad for kids and needs to be stopped!". It isn't the media's job to decide what is and isn't appropriate for your children, IT'S YOUR JOB.
If you're just noticing TNT had these games and are feeling appalled by it, I'm more appalled that you allow your young children to surf the net without your supervision. I'm sure your kids seeing a game of Grarrl Keno is the LAST thing you should be worrying about if you allow them complete unsupervised internet access.
AND ON A FINAL NOTE TO TNT IF THEY HAPPEN TO BE READING:
You're under the microscope, guys. If I were you, I'd change these items into something else, quick...before these media dogs discover these to start freaking out over:
Red Wine
White Wine
Rose Wine
Grog Light
Walk The Plank
Man O War
Hogshead
...and so on.....
Okay, I'll get off now...hope I didn't step on too many toes.
It's as if they are painting over a picture. They take a picture of a quite innocent children's site and with choosing only a few select colors, make it into a raging casino.
If you are a parent (as I am) things in the world seem to take on a different appearance. I can understand that, it has happened to me too. But still, you can't shelter your kids from everything in the world. HOWEVER:
If your child becomes overweight, you shouldn't be blaming McDonalds.
If they start to smoke, the ads from Tobacco industries are not responsible.
If they get into a cult, Harry Potter isn't the man who did it.
If they get addicted to drugs, it's probably better not to sue the vitamin company for "introducing your child to drugs" by using colorful, candy flavored vitamins.
On the same token, If your child becomes a gambler, don't run and blame Neopets.
BLAME YOURSELF.
LACK OF DECENT parenting is what causes undesired behaviors and addictions. If you don't want to talk to your children about the dangers and problems of life, quit trying to find someone else to carry your burden when things go wrong. Sure, environment does indeed play a role, but c'mon...nitpicking everything to the smallest degree (as in the case in discussion at the moment) is a sure way to make something more desireable to a kid by making it an "evil taboo".
You are a parent, and you're not helpless. If you don't approve of what games your kids are playing online, GUESS WHAT? You have the right as a parent to monitor what they do. Not only is it your right, it's your DUTY. Don't like it? Forbid them to go to the site in question, but don't expect what YOU decide personally should be implicated on all the other children, that's a decision up to their parents to make....their view may differ from yours. You shouldn't be running to the newspapers saying "This site is bad for kids and needs to be stopped!". It isn't the media's job to decide what is and isn't appropriate for your children, IT'S YOUR JOB.
If you're just noticing TNT had these games and are feeling appalled by it, I'm more appalled that you allow your young children to surf the net without your supervision. I'm sure your kids seeing a game of Grarrl Keno is the LAST thing you should be worrying about if you allow them complete unsupervised internet access.
AND ON A FINAL NOTE TO TNT IF THEY HAPPEN TO BE READING:
You're under the microscope, guys. If I were you, I'd change these items into something else, quick...before these media dogs discover these to start freaking out over:
Red Wine
White Wine
Rose Wine
Grog Light
Walk The Plank
Man O War
Hogshead
...and so on.....
Okay, I'll get off now...hope I didn't step on too many toes.
Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:14 pm
hmm i wonder if she knows that her lil nine year old watches dirty movies...a close source to me...my lil cuzzin says his mum lets him watch tv shows with sex scenes in them and he's nine! thats worse!
Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:21 pm
smudgeoffudge wrote:Well they need to change the gambling age to twenty one then. I think eighteen is too young. And why not just outlaw gambling if you have a problem with it? Why waste your time, money, and energy fighting about pixels when you can take on what is really bothering you. I mean, if gambling is the problem, why take on a simulation of it?
It's been like that for years in Australia; I doubt it's going to change. 18 is the age where you're legally considered an adult - when you can get your licence, drink, gamble, vote, etc.
Whether or not it should be changed is a matter for the Debate Board.
x-eevee wrote:I think I shall move away... after the elections, and this, I don't really want to be an Australian any more.
*off topic*
I haven't posted in ages... and I tried to then just to find out my account was gone.. poor me
The forums were reset - everyone had to re-register.
Shifty wrote:Anyway, I think they have a point... Neo should make it so, what ever age you regester with, it determines if you can play the luck games...
Again, there's the issue that they have no way of actually determining whether you're telling the truth about your age.
autechre wrote:oh the herald article was fine, just the tv program was the most biased piece of, literary work, i've ever seen. they got things wrong, and didn't attempt to show the other side, or anything else about the site
Agreed. Over half of the Today Tonight report were half truths, or outright lies.
Val - I'm too lazy to respond to everything you wrote, but I agree with it. It's the parents responsibility. It's their children; they provide the internet access. Whether or not they monitor what their children do is entirely up to them.
n1k wrote:hmm i wonder if she knows that her lil nine year old watches dirty movies...a close source to me...my lil cuzzin says his mum lets him watch tv shows with sex scenes in them and he's nine! thats worse!
IMO, that's irrelevant to the subject at hand. I'm more concerned about the report and the article as a whole, than the people who are mentioned in it.
Right, that's a long enough post from me for now
Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:32 pm
I think they should take down the chance games for as long as the Mcdonald's promotion is on, and then put them back up afterwards. It's only a temporary promotion.
I think it's laughable people are upset about this, but what can you do.
I think it's laughable people are upset about this, but what can you do.
Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:38 pm
I have read both articals and from what I can gather, the artical from Today Tonight (hope that's right) is based mainly on the word of a 9 year old.
This after his mother says
The mother claims she supervises her sons activites on the computer yet ..
As a parent I would much rather be the one to censor what my kids do on the internet as oposed to letting someone else do it for me. What one person might think inapropriate might not effect me the same way. (Take Harry Potter for example, I love the books and movies just as much if not more than my kids, yet some folks have a problem with it)
I'm sorry some of my fellow Neopians now have limited access to our beloved site. I really hope this matter is taken care of as soon as possible and you all can get full access to Neopets.
This after his mother says
Yet he has the ability to accuratly assess a site as complex as Neopets."A nine-year old boy doesn't have the ability to question," Michelle said.
The mother claims she supervises her sons activites on the computer yet ..
As a mother I believe it to be HER responsibility to oversee what her son is doing at all times, so either her son was playing the games in question while she watched or he never bothered to play the games in question because they didn't apeal to him. Either way it is not the resposibility of every site on the net to monitor what her son does and does not view/play or hear on the net."As a parent you can never be too careful," Michelle said. "You think you're doing the best you can and supervising everything, but some things still slip through and my son has been playing this for months."
As a parent I would much rather be the one to censor what my kids do on the internet as oposed to letting someone else do it for me. What one person might think inapropriate might not effect me the same way. (Take Harry Potter for example, I love the books and movies just as much if not more than my kids, yet some folks have a problem with it)
I'm sorry some of my fellow Neopians now have limited access to our beloved site. I really hope this matter is taken care of as soon as possible and you all can get full access to Neopets.
Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:52 pm
Child psychologist Michael Carr-Greg says this is a sure-fire way to turn our kids into gambling addicts.
Is it? Does that mean playing Tiger Woods Golf is a sure-fire way to become world class golfers?
"I don't think there would be any parents in Australian who would be very happy to know that Ronald McDonald is getting into the casino business," Mr Carr-Gregg said.
I thought they were just giving away plushies with Happy Meals, or am I missing something?
Apparently not, because late this afternoon, McDonalds Corporation told Today Tonight it was taking the issue seriously and shutting down the gambling components of the website.
I thought it was TNT that ran the website, not McD's
Last edited by arogance1 on Wed Oct 13, 2004 3:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Wed Oct 13, 2004 3:05 pm
arogance1 wrote:n1k wrote:hmm i wonder if she knows that her lil nine year old watches dirty movies...a close source to me...my lil cuzzin says his mum lets him watch tv shows with sex scenes in them and he's nine! thats worse!
I've always wondered why the legal age for sex (in the UK at least) is 16, but to rent or buy a sex video the age rating is 18.
Any ideas?
Sorry for going off topic a bit
Heh, your guess is as good as mine. Here in Sweden age of consent is even younger...(15). Same thing about the vids...
Wed Oct 13, 2004 3:06 pm
*silence*
Does this remind anyone of that stupid Times issue?
YOOHOO, THEY'RE PIXELS DARLING.
It's not like you're betting real money...and I'd rather learn young than get conned out of RL money
Oh for goodnes sake. Has the writer forgotten what it's like to be a kid? I knew about loads of really rude stuff in like, year 6. And I knew every single swearword there was by year 2. But do I go around doing what I heard about, or effing all the time? No I don't. Any idiot knows that kids picks up stuff from school, and gambling is no different. Heck, you could probably call Pokemon Cards gambling, but even kids that were like, 7, played with those. And it's the parent's job to supervise young children on the internet, and teach them wrong from right.
Does this remind anyone of that stupid Times issue?
YOOHOO, THEY'RE PIXELS DARLING.
It's not like you're betting real money...and I'd rather learn young than get conned out of RL money
"(The website is) luring young people into gambling without . . . appropriate education and appropriate safeguards."
Oh for goodnes sake. Has the writer forgotten what it's like to be a kid? I knew about loads of really rude stuff in like, year 6. And I knew every single swearword there was by year 2. But do I go around doing what I heard about, or effing all the time? No I don't. Any idiot knows that kids picks up stuff from school, and gambling is no different. Heck, you could probably call Pokemon Cards gambling, but even kids that were like, 7, played with those. And it's the parent's job to supervise young children on the internet, and teach them wrong from right.
Wed Oct 13, 2004 3:41 pm
If any of you are interested in reading the final copy of the letter I sent to Today Tonight, you can find it here: http://www.lost-thoughts.net/ttletter.html - I uploaded it because it's long, and it saves me copy-pasting multiple times.
They are. Plushies and a promotional card, IIRC.
The media is just milking it for all that it's worth, as usual. McDonalds has no power to shut down the so-called 'gambling' components of the website. They have the power to withdraw the promotional parts, eg. Daily Giveaway and the sponsor games, but nothing else.
arogance1 wrote:"I don't think there would be any parents in Australian who would be very happy to know that Ronald McDonald is getting into the casino business," Mr Carr-Gregg said.
I thought they were just giving away plushies with Happy Meals, or am I missing something?
They are. Plushies and a promotional card, IIRC.
arogance1 wrote:Apparently not, because late this afternoon, McDonalds Corporation told Today Tonight it was taking the issue seriously and shutting down the gambling components of the website.
I thought it was TNT that ran the website, not McD's
The media is just milking it for all that it's worth, as usual. McDonalds has no power to shut down the so-called 'gambling' components of the website. They have the power to withdraw the promotional parts, eg. Daily Giveaway and the sponsor games, but nothing else.
Wed Oct 13, 2004 3:44 pm
Ok, now everyone knows I have the tendency to be overly critical of TNT, especially when it deals with impressionable children...
But this is outright stark raving lunacy.
I have a few choice words for bungling, hypocritical, bumbling beauraucratic bimbos with nothing better to do but present themsleves as fine upstanding moral citizens while they remain blind to the big picture.
Boo-erns on you Australian media. Boo-erns indeed.
But this is outright stark raving lunacy.
I have a few choice words for bungling, hypocritical, bumbling beauraucratic bimbos with nothing better to do but present themsleves as fine upstanding moral citizens while they remain blind to the big picture.
Boo-erns on you Australian media. Boo-erns indeed.
Last edited by coming2atvnearu on Wed Oct 13, 2004 4:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Wed Oct 13, 2004 3:54 pm
Alex wrote:Shifty wrote:Anyway, I think they have a point... Neo should make it so, what ever age you regester with, it determines if you can play the luck games...
Again, there's the issue that they have no way of actually determining whether you're telling the truth about your age.
They don't know for the chatboards either.. Anyone can register their account as whatever age. I believe that neopets is generaly allowed to accept what users tell them about their ages. Perhaps since this is a leagal restriction there might be more of a burden of proof placed on neopets but in general it's acceptable for them to accept what users tell them. As a parallel you'll notice some sites about alchocoll ask you for your age before you can continue but don't verify it in any way. But the user claimed that was their age and so that affects leagly what the responsibility of the company is. In this case it think it would be okay for neo to use age limits because then if your child is accessing these areas of the site it's because he or she actively cercomvented the rules to do so.
Wed Oct 13, 2004 4:45 pm
Gemhustler wrote:I have read both articals and from what I can gather, the artical from Today Tonight (hope that's right) is based mainly on the word of a 9 year old.
This after his mother saysYet he has the ability to accuratly assess a site as complex as Neopets."A nine-year old boy doesn't have the ability to question," Michelle said.
I don't think he accurately assessed it. He is under the illusion that if he doesn't win enough np through gambling, he will be forced to leave his pets in the "orphanage". (Lol that term still cracks me up
)