Straight from the sensationalist news desk comes a story for the record books. According to Tampa Bay online, an Elmo doll is threatening the life of a two-year-old. The Bowman family, of Lithia, Fla., said an Elmo doll belonging to their 2-year-old son, James, began to spout death threats towards him after they changed its batteries, TBO.com reports.
The Elmo Knows Your Name Doll started saying "Kill James!" in a sing-song voice, the site reports.
"It's not something that really you would think would ever come out of a toy," James' mother, Melissa, told the site. "But once I heard, I was just kind of distraught."
Fisher Price has agreed to send the family a replacement voucher. They are hoping to look into the doll issue to see what the malfunction is.
I agree that having an Elmo doll say this could be scary. But as a parent of a three-year-old, I own one of these dolls. The dolls are completely programmable. Those who heard the evening news in Florida have reported that it sounds to them that the doll is saying "Tell James" instead of "Kill James."
The mom says on the site that the Elmo doll is causing all sorts of chaos and sadness in their household claming she is having to not let her son play with the doll. Therefore, he is climbing shelves and counters to try and reach "his favorite toy."
I guess this is the most confusing part to me. Why not put the cd in and try to reprogram the doll. That is why we paid the extra money for the Elmo, so that we can reprogram it as our child grows and changes. Why doesn't she try that first instead of reporting it.
I tell you why. Our society has become a society of complainers and attention getters. It is no wonder. The louder someone complains, the more attention they get. This is no different. It would have been real easy to just try and reprogram the Elmo first. Instead we call the media. Why is it that way? Why do we need to call bad publicity to every product or person in our society? I haven't heard a rash of others complaining their doll is doing the same thing. I guess time will tell.
I will say that Fisher Price should be commended for offering a free voucher. If I was Fisher Price, I am not sure I wouldn't drive to Florida and reprogram the doll itself. Can we say, "James your family is attention-hungry."
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