Moscow: 10-yr-old commits suicide after parental ban on computer games

A 10-year-old school boy committed suicide by jumping from his 19th floor apartment here after his parents banned him from playing computer games.

Andrei Smirnov, a class three student, jumped to his death yesterday after receiving the wrath of his parents due to bad conduct in school and a poor performance in studies.

The boy's class teacher had written remarks about his bad conduct in the school diary which he had tried to erase to escape the wrath of his parents, according to Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid.

Angered by the teacher's remarks and their son's attempt to deceive them, Andrei's parents banned him from playing games on his computer.

Local experts here have expressed concern over the unhealthy dependence of children on computers.

According to Director of Centre for Legal Psychological Assistance Mikhail Vinogradov, children who are banned from using their computers could easily resort to suicide, since they do not realise the consequences of taking the extreme step.