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Man arrested for assaulting girl he met in World of Warcraft
Here's an unfortunate World of Warcraft mention in the news: a man has been arrested and charged with all sorts of terrible things for having a relationship with a 14-year-old girl that he originally met in Azeroth. Daniel Joseph Czelusniak is 23 and from North Royalton, Ohio, and is being held by Pennsylvania State Police after having a relationship with the girl last year, meeting at a hotel and her house. He originally met her four years ago (when she was 10 but apparently claimed she was 14) while they were both playing World of Warcraft.Of course, this is hardly the game's fault: parents of young children need to closely supervise their activity online while they're doing anything, be it browsing the Internet or fighting dragons in Northrend. WoW itself is rated T by the ESRB, which means no children under the age of 13 should really be playing it without parental supervision anyway, and the added online component of the game should be even more of a red flag for anyone overseeing younger children. This is a great game (and you couldn't find a nicer community of people who play it), but there are the same dangers in this environment as anywhere else your child might go online.
Forum post of the day: Just a number
World of Warcraft attracts a variety of players from all demographics. Players face different sets of challenges based on where they are in real life. Students may face time crunches at some points that prohibit themselves from immersion in the game. Parents have many obligations that may pull themselves away from the keyboard with little to no warning. There are times when big projects at work require extra hours. Some may even go into labor in the middle of a battleground. Somehow, despite our divergent responsibilities, we all come together to enjoy WoW. Crothiuz of Lethon has found himself in the middle of an age-related struggle. Posting in the Guild Relations forum, he told a tale of how he was excluded from a raid because he was only fourteen years of age. He feels that he has carried himself in a mature manner and it is only his age that has precluded him from running Karazhan with his guild. He was then kicked from the guild while he was offline. The original poster is concerned that age will continue to be a factor in his online aspirations.
Breakfast topic: How young is too young for World of Warcraft?
Does it take a certain level of maturity to play World of Warcraft? In the past we have asked for opinions on how comfortable people are gaming with players of all ages. The general consensus seemed to be that behavior is more important than numerical age. Surely there is value in gaming for young people. Although a full-grown adult when I started playing World of Warcraft, games have always been a passion of mine. They have fostered creativity and logic. Recently our Lisa Poisso featured a guild for Unschoolers, who use WoW as a tool for self-guided education. When appropriately supervised and balanced, the game can be a fun, family activity.
