Police in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, on Saturday arrested a 17-year-old high school boy on suspicion of attempted murder after he assaulted his 45-year-old father following an argument over his playing a smartphone game.
According to police, the boy has admitted to the charge and quoted him as saying, “I meant to kill him.”
The incident occurred at around 2:40 a.m. Saturday at the boy’s home in Naka Ward, Kyodo News reported. Police said the boy told them that his father scolded him for often playing smartphone games until the early hours of the morning, leading to an argument.
Police said the boy punched his father and stomped on his face, causing injuries including a fractured cheekbone. The father was taken to the hospital where doctors said his injuries were not life-threatening.
The boy, who broke his hand during the fight, called 110 himself, police said.
© Japan Today
24 Comments
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GuruMick
How old does a person have to be in Japan before a parent can legally "kick them out "?
Personally, I hate games and smartphones which I call "conversation stoppers ".
beachcomber
Such a sad incident. Scolding hard many times may ruin the relationship of each others. We need to learn how to interact and influence people in a tough situation.
Laguna
Game addiction is a real thing. The boy needs punishment - and help.
Daninthepan
Smartphones should be banned for all children under 18.
Seesaw7
It's sad to hear children no longer listen to parents
opheliajadefeldt
The over use and wide spread use of Smartphones, is a precursor to the break down of 'normal' society. If you do not believe me, just look around you next time you leave your home, everybody is engrossed with them, consuming crap content and lies. It is not just a Japanese problem, it is world wide, I have lost count of the number of times been bumped in to by these phone users, especially in super markets, and if they are not bumping in to you, they are blocking the aisles. Luckily I have never had one or used one and at 24yrs old I never will..........I hope. But more and more companies are using them for various matters.
tigerjane
I have a teen kid who doesn't understand that these apps and games are so dangerous and vile. Being a single parent, I step hard down on my kid and my kid is tall and so I have to use my mighty force to say not happening.
I have banned him from the phone for weeks on end and it is all an act the good behavior until he gets what he wants. There is only 4 more years, and from next year he must get a job and budget his money and pay for most of his personal things from that earned money.
bass4funk
That’s how it should be done, I wish more parents would think like you in this department. I didn’t buy one for my daughter as well, she uses her mom’s phone as her phone and the wife uses her company phone, but I told her she can get her own phone after she graduates from HS, as long as she uses her mom’s phone we can track and see what she does, she’s never abused it, always respectful, but you can’t be too careful these days.
shogun36
Easy solution, cut the punk's phone.
He's such a big man, he can pay his own bills.
Jind
I always worry at the Health club when schools out and the teenagers have been kicked out of the house for being a nuisance playing video games or watching videos on tick tock.
They do the same at the Health club, occupying a machine and not exercising.
People like me have limited time during lunch times to exercise and can't wait for the teenagers to stop watching videos.
I ask them how many sets the have and they are clueless as to what I am asking and go back to watching videos.
I have said quite a few times that if they want to watch videos, they should use the bench and not waste other's time.
I always wonder if the teenagers may smack me with the phone or a punch for annoying them.
Jind
Another thing.
A couple of years ago, China banned children under 18 to using video games or videos to 3 hours a week.
Garthgoyle
Kick him out of the house.
DanteKH
What kind of mental meltdown one can have in order to assault and traumatize his own parent??
Seriously, parents are too week and soft nowadays. Now if you beat or hard scold your brat, the state can take your child due to "abuse", however, not imposing in front of them is how those monsters are created. Children become entitled and they think they have all the rights in the world, just because they are children. Parenting used to mean something when I was a kid.
tora
Reasoning being? Know plenty of addicted 40 somethings. Also you might want to look into numbers of Generation Z (hate the term personally) who are actually going fill retro and snubbing "smartphones".
Lindsay
Ah huh! I taught English in over twenty different high schools during my time in Japan. The narcoleptic zombies that struggle to stay awake in class after playing games until the wee hours of the am made up for 50% of the students.
falseflagsteve
Demonic creations that control many worldwide. This big was addicted to these awful games and look what has happened, at least it wasn’t pornography addiction which could lead him to commit a serious sexual assault or worse.
Socialising and enjoy people’s company is now linger the norm, doing online is with people who for the main are nit real friends and don’t care about you.
Albert
Phone, games or any other digital consumption addictions are getting worse and worse. This is the society we have created by ourselves.
buchailldana
When my daughter was in second grade in highschool, she was being incredibly rude and lazy. Refused to go to the school to collect her books for the new year.
So I went into her room, took her phone. Less than a minute later she exploded and basically started assaulting me and my wife wanting her phone back.
And I mean she was throwing punches, kicking, biting.
She literally went insane.
I had to call the cops.
Next day I woke up to six cops at the door coming to arrest me for assaulting my daughter.
Luckily the head cop decided to give me a chance to explain.
I was within an inch of doing time.
All because of a smartphone.
Happily my daughter and I are really really close these days.
What the kid did was wrong but he needs to be given a chance too.
Albert
@buchailldana
Sorry to hear what happened but glad all ended well. In case of my daughter she is not allowed to bring phone to her room unless holidays. This is a promise we made and it works well.
Ego Sum Lux Mundi
Tough guy, give him a spell in the army, Japan needs all the recruits it can get
Zaphod
Social media addiction is a real thing, sadly.
TokyoLiving
To jail with the young clown..
Gene Hennigh
Correction: That boy has a dumbphone.