ORONTO -- A claim on eBay that a Canadian man was putting a popular video game up for sale rather than give it to his pot-smoking son has sparked an online debate and led to the item being bid up to more than $9,000 -- 100 times its retail value.


"While I doubt this will keep him from ever smoking pot again, I think it will make him think twice before doing illegal drugs on my property,'' the man, with the user name "k_lid'' and identified only as from Canada, said on a letter accompanying the game's sale on the online auction site eBay.


K-lid said he found it hard to justify rewarding his 15-year-old son with the gift after he found the boy smoking pot in the backyard and "greatly disappointed me''.


''I am an elementary school teacher and I know that rewarding bad behaviour is just asking for more of the same," reads the letter.


While the site did not offer more details about the seller and he could not immediately be contacted, he was listed as a good-faith eBay user since 2002.


The compassionate letter attracted hundreds of comments from other eBay users, most of them siding with the disappointed father.


Others accused him of publicly humiliating his son. The game in question was the hard-to-find "Guitar Hero III'' for the Nintendo Wii.


Even websites joined in the discussion.


justpressplay.net ran the father's letter with an invitation of its own at the end:


"If you want to help ruin this kid's holiday spirit even more, bid on the auction here,'' said a story on the website providing a link to the auction.

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I agree with the dad. And if embarassement doesn't work, what will? There are so many people who say not spank, not yell, not to ground...what can parents do to get the lesson home to their children?

too bad so sad, i agree with the father(yeah i know HUGE surprise there), respect the rules of the house or get your own house.

That's a great game to be auctioning off.....How can the dad be publicly humiliating his son, unless he used names in the auction...And if this isn't the first time, and the kid was warned, then oh well....suck it up.....

yeah who cares if the kid is embarrassed, what about what happens to the dad if the kid gets caught doing that at his house

I side with the father but all this could be just a gimmick even in good faith from E-BAY.

Theres too many trying to grab your attention to bring up an auction's bid.

well done. I think the embarassment of the situation will have a little more affect than him losing the game. It amazes me how some parents believe a simple "talking to" is enough to get their child down the right path.

Embarassment can go a long way with a kid...I had my teenage grandson, and three of his friends in the truck, taking them to hockey practice, when my grandson decided to act like a big s**t and mouthed off to me....I pulled the truck over, got in his face which totally shocked him, and ripped him a new you know what....Made him apologize to his friends for being stupid, and apologize to me in front of his friends....It was a first and a last time....They all see how far they can push the buttons....

So how does paying $9,000 for this game help teach the kid a lesson? People are crazy

if someone is that stupid then the kid learns two lessons, one never mess with his dad, two never under estimate others people's stupidity, voila double dip

Wrong, wrong, wrong! What a mean Santa Dad! That's just so wrong. What a jerk.

Why don't people ask me before they do stupid things?

What he should do is give the present to the kid...tell him he is very disappointed with him...and take him to some cool places just for fun...like a drug rehabilitation center, a local prison, the morgue.

It was a "hard-to-get" game, the kid won't be able to get another one so easy. By selling it for such a large amount, it is a double-wammy and shows the kid what he lost.

Not that he will care, he is probably too bloody spaced out and dopey to worry.

Good on the dad I say, the kid's a twit.

Well even though IMO there is nothing wrong with smoking weed, the kid is still only 15 years old and he is still smoking on someone else's property, even if it's his parents. He doesn't own it, so he has no say on what he can or can't do. If he gets caught, he might get into trouble, but his parents are gonna receive the brunt of the punishment. I fully support what the dad is trying to do cause these days kids don't listen to anyone but their friends and obviously the kid never thought of what the consequences could be...and if he complains about it...well, maybe the son should quit smoking weed or find a better spot so he won't get caught!

Thumbs up to the dad for punishing his kid for being an idiot.



Who the heck would pay $9,000 for a Wii game?



Being a member of Ebay also, I smell a scammer.

granted there is nothing wrong with smoking as you say when your an adult and in your own place.

The kid isn't a twit. He's a kid. And all the Dad is really doing is pushing him deeper into the world he wants him out of. The kid is not going to stop smoking pot because his Dad punished him like that. He is just going to hate his Dad and probably start shooting up to rebel. Where does that get anyone?

Okay, the kid shouldn't be smoking at his parent's house, but selling the game really is just gonna make him think his dad's a douschebag. I guarantee it won't stop him from smoking weed. guaranteed.

so i geuss we just let the little guys run rampant then joc? that is a weak argument, don't punish him cause it might hurt his so called feelings. So where does that leave the father in disciplining his kid?......ohhhh yeahhhhh it doesn't. I mean it will only push them further into their drawn in world if you confront them head on,,,,,yeah that makes sense,this won't work at all with this kids friends ripping on him, it might teach him the world isn't his oyster. When you finally have kids joc please remember this conversation when they push your buttons and their luck. Remember what you have said here and don't be a hypocrite. I will be pleased to hear the result from that confrontation and its aftermath. What seems cruel joc is really a parents concern for their child, this guy is teaching his kid several things with this action and all of it is good for him to learn. There are no real free rides in life just naive people who think there are.

granted crt granted, but it may stop him from disrespecting his dads house. Smoking is fine as i said but not if it has the potential to screw up people who don't partake. Getting his dad in any kind of legal trouble is a big nono in my books. When the only person or property at risk is your own or your fellow partakers then fine, but putting someone who has a job like elemantary school teacher puts them at risk which is not cool. Its not his right no matter how pissed off he is or what he will do after the lesson.

What a grinch, I'd totally inject heroin into my eye balls if that was my dad.

I doubt this will be very effective, as I'm sure most who smoke marijuana will agree drugs beat the hell out of any game.

Hopefully he donates this money to charity. Then will I be able to say he done the right thing.

addict....erm affliction please breath through your nose for ten breaths then reply.

Well at least the dad is trying to do something and not just ignoring it all!

What would you suggest the dad should have done? Pat the kid on the head and say "don't do it again, by the way, here's your game"?

It was his dad's property and he is fully entitled to say what goes on there and if he doesn't like his kid smoking pot, then that is tough on the kid.

If the kid hates his dad for the punishment, then he has a lot to learn, if he wants to smoke the stuff he has to accept the risks of being caught - luckily it was his dad who caught him and not the old bill! If he starts shooting up to rebel, then he really would be confirming my previous statement in that he is a twit!

Where would it get anyone if the kid was allowed to do exactly what he wished, when and where without any thought for anybody else, not even his own family. Totally selfish.

I agree with that. It seems he doesn't realize the way his actions can reflect on people he cares about. This is an important lesson to learn, especially considering his father's role in other kids' lives. I am curious if this has happened before or if the father caught him once and jumped into this thing. The action his father took seems appropriate if the latter is the case, but if not, perhaps sitting him down and having a discussion about what is acceptable and what isn't would be better suited. Perhaps accompanied by a less extreme punishment.

Then again, he's banking pretty hard off this. He won't have any stress on the wallet this Christmas... oh well then again he doesn't have as many gifts to buy....

yeah i could see him sitting down and just laying out the ground rules, like say at least get som e exercise and walk off my property when you do it then you come back and no harm no foul. Something like that might work and your right it does depend on if this was the first time or one of many. People can't be controled from doing what makes them happy so he would find a way no mattewr what. But he is getting to the point where i think the dad can sit him down and teach him a little bit about what it takes to be a good man. Even if you do things that are socially unacceptable it doesn't make you an ogre, i believe that each person is entitled to the control over their happiness.

I smoked weed when a few years ago. I quit because i wanted to. If my mother had told me to quit and taken something away from me. i would have hated her the whole time I was smoking weed. there are other ways to deal with kids and drugs and denial forms of punishment aren't it.

In my opinion, selling the game that he has not yet given his son is not a punishment. But it makes perfect sense. I would not give my son an expensive gift if he is disrespectful and thoughtless enough to do something on my property that can get me in deep doo-doo. Not giving someone a gift is not punishment.

Wow I'm gonna sell something on ebay and say I'm punishing my kid too... I don't have kids but what an easy way to make some cash.

The only thing this will teach the kid is to be more careful and not smoke at home.

it depends on the value placed on it by the kid, to him and his small world its a major blow on the fun meter. So its withdrawal is in this context severe and haneous. Or the kid could just grow up and act like he actually has a thinking brain, or his dad could hold his hand and change his diaper forever to i geuss?

so his dad could like let the kid ged busted on a misdemeaner charge and sit out his probation like a big boy and say see thats what happens when you break the law son. or he can sell a game system.......

Or blow to the rock meter in this case

oh man im a cheese ball, sorry i couldnt resist

no i wouldn't say he would like his kid gettin busted but at some point all kids stop being kids and become adults. So when your doing adult type things like you shouldn't expect kid type punishment. Its a saying don't write checks you can't cash.

You know, back in my youth (god... it wasn't THAT long ago), I would have felt the same way.

But... good grief! Not giving your kid a gift is a denial form of punishment? Why should the guy give his son the gift? Does the kid deserve a gift? Does the father feel so kindly toward his disrespectful son that he wants to give him a gift?

I don't think so.

So what? The dad should give the gift to his son because the boy might get angry and he won't quit smoking weed anyway? Maybe selling the game is not meant to stop his son from smoking. Maybe it's just because the kid doesn't deserve an expensive gift anymore. Who cares if the kid gets mad?

Besides... the Dad might use that $9,000 for the kid's court costs if he ever gets busted.

Sounds like he's already running rampant to me. I don't care about the kids 'feelings'. What we have is the father making an example of his kid to an extreme that the kid doesn't deserve. What makes you think I don't have any kids?
I don't see any 'concern' for the kid in this. I see a 'my way or the highway' kind of approach by his father. What is the point? To teach him a lesson? To keep him from smoking pot? To make him understand smoking pot is bad? There isn't any 'lesson' here. The only lesson is that Dad is an as$ which is why the kid is smokin' at home anyway. The kid obviously needs help...not a boot in the butt.

Besides all of that...we are all making assumptions based on incomplete data. What was the relationship before...for the last 14 years? What rules have been broken when and to what extent. Where did the kid learn to smoke pot and where is Mom or Dad when that's going on? Just to many unknowns.

one : I know you definitely don't have kids
two: if there are never any real repercussions for his actions this kid will never learn anything. This is a cause and effect situation. You put me in danger with your selfish actions so the cause is you lose something onherently valuable to you and you suffer public embarrassment. Its not rocket science. I keep a close eye on my kids like no other but im not so stupid as to believe that later on when they are older they won't be doing things i won't like. So will it still be my fault or my kids fault? How old are you joc?

I am 50 years old. I have a ten year old step-daughter who has been in my life since she was one. Kids are all different...(so are parents) and kids don't all react the same to the same forms of punishment...or the same kinds of rewards for that matter...

...and like I said...there isn't any data of the formative years up to the age of 6 to assume anything about this situation...in my opinion the father is over-bearing. You are entitled to your opinion.

good job to the dad, he showed he won't take any crap from his kid. like he said it most likley won't stop the kid from getting high but it might make him think before doing it on his dads property. seriously, do kids know their parents could get busted worst then them if they get caught with that on the property? if they do know this and they still do it then they are a ingrateful little b@st@rd that doesn't deserve any of that cool stuff anyway. if it were me though i wouldn't sell it on ebay i'd give it to some poor kids or a homeless shelter and give it to some people who would truely love to have it.

I really hope you people don't have kids. God knows what they are doing behind your backs. If my mother had punished me in that way I would have made sure she didn't find out what else I was doing. That way she couldn't have interfered. Seems like you all want your kids to lie to you and do what they are going to do away from home instead of in the safety of it. Well let me tell you right after majiuana comes meth, and right after meth comes either acid or ecstacy followed up at some point by shrooms. except now there is cheese... so i hope you all try and NOT sell your kids toys because your kids will do drugs if they aren't spending money on games. you can try and control them but seriously you are being really stupid if you think that works....really...im 22 years old and i WORK for my mother and do you think she knows what i do when i leave work. NOPE. but her straight A & B student spends most of her time a strip club????? WHAT! yeah....Clue in buddies. You pay for your kids but their friends raise them. thats the way it is...think back.

but guitar hero stoned is incredible
wat an a****** father.

Sounds like a gimmick to get good bids going....If I recall something like this has happened the past few years every christmas, so I think it is the same thing as the "Haunted Picture" or the "haunted chamber pot". If it isnt haunted it isnt that big of a deal, somehow if you add a story too it it makes it worth more...

its a test of wills raver, and i WILL WIN. My dad said that to me when I thought I was so smart and could slip anything past them. The truth is parents are more aware of what their kids are doing than they let their kids know. But you gotta push the child outta the crib sometime, so you can't waste your time worrying constantly(most still do though its instinct). Your going at this from the wrong angle. You can't stop it MAYBE ( I think I could but my methods would be different) but you can make efforts to stem it to keep the overall damage down. Just letting it go is an admission your not up to the challenge of parenting.

what? you're saying this kid is going to go off doing meth now because his dad punished him for smoking weed? come on, what, should the dad just sit there and let the kid get high and do nothing about it? even if the dad lets his kid get away with smoking weed the kid still might end up one day doing cocaine or something else....probably already does. that's not the point. point is teaching your kids that they will get punished for there actions, you let your kids get away with this crap with you, they'll never learn that outside of your house if they get caught they're going to jail....alot worst then haveing a video game taken away. and if you're letting your kids do this stuff at your home then you truely don't care about your children you just want to be freinds with them. yes dear you can come have sex and get pregnent and catch aids in my house....also while your at it smoke some weed and if you like that try cociane here to.....better if you become a crack head in my house under my super vison.

what if this kid bought that game with his own money ? why don't just throw the kid out of the house ?

Way to go Dad!!! I did a similar thing a few years ago, it worked wonderfully..... Smoke dope us parents know you will but do not disrespect us by doing it on the property that we paid for. Our house our rules.....

So let me get this straight.. the kid got caught smoking pot in his father's house, and his father punished him. Fine, but I fail to see the news.

Also I doubt this game is so hard to get that somebody would spend $9,000 on it. I was Christmas shopping for my godson the other day, I bought him this game for the X-box and there were copies of it in almost every toy/game/electronics store that I went to. I wouldn't be surprised if the bids were fake, but if they're not I'm buying them out and putting them on Ebay with some mediocre story to go with it I'll settle for double the retail if anyone is interested!

wow... interesting opinions.
all it does is drive the kids away, they are going to do what they want regardless and i tell you i would rather them doing what it is they want to do in the safety of my property rather than who knows where, deal with the problem AT home!! communication!!

Good parents train their kids well AND don't assume their kids are little angels obeying every rule all the time, which is why their kids actually get away with a lot less than they think. This dad is teaching his son a simple lesson: "I can't make you act properly, but I will not reward your disobedience AND you will be held accountable for the things I find out about and it will hurt." Will this make his son behave better or at all times? Maybe not, but at least he knows for sure that it's not something his parents will put up with and that may be just as good.

I believe the legal term for this is contributing to the delequency of a minor. As a parent you cannot knowingly allow your child to break the law. Also in case you did not know, you could also lose you home along with your freedom. The owner of the home is responsible for the actions of minors on his property. This kid got off light, Dad could have and should have called the law. I also disagree that rules drive kids away. Rules are for the kids protection as well as teaching them that there are consequences for their actions, kind of like real life. I caught my son smoking dope in my home I called the law and let them show him the consequences for breaking the law. Worked like a charm, he may still smoke but not in our home or on our property. His disrespect for us and his little brother needed to be delt with, teh Palm Beach County Sheriff's office handled the problem very nicely. My home my rules works and is the only right way.

Actually many parents icluding mine did let me smoke pot when I was 17-18 because like me they thought the law was buttkiss.

Any parent who calls the police on their own kids for simply smoking a joint etc is not a good parent and will drive their kids away.

Are you sure you want to stick with that opinion? Are you suggesting that it is ok to allow your kids to break the law, even if you disagree with the law? So to keep from driving them away a parent should sacrafice their moral and ethical stance. The question comes to mind, when the kid is no longer a kid and their behavior comes home to roost are you going to continually bail them out of their legal problems. You may once or twice but after a few repeat preformances you will in all likelyhood allow the county jail to house them for a time. I speak from the experience of raising 4 boys and still raising another, he is three now. The line my wife and I drew in the dirt was not negotiable, and severe consequences came from crossing that line. Kind of like real life. It is a parents responsibility to prepare their kids for the real world, not a fantasy world where responsibility does not exist and laws are for the other guy. The real world where one must work, pay bills and assume responsibility for ones actions. The real world where breaking laws comes with consequences, real consequences. This Dad is to be congratulated for his stance and supported for his fortitude.