Thursday 23 April 2009

No iPhone Shake-A-Babe game.

While rightwingnutters, religious zealots and assorted abortion criminalizing batshit crazies drool over this, organizations who are seriously committed to the health and safety of vulnerable babies and infants who have come into this world expressed strong concerns about an iPhone game.

Apple Inc. pulled a 99-cent iPhone game called "Baby Shaker" from its iTunes store Wednesday after its premise — quiet a crying baby with a vigorous shake — prompted outrage.

According to screen shots posted on several Web sites, "Baby Shaker" displayed black-and-white line drawings of a baby. The iTunes description included the line, "See how long you can endure his or her adorable cries before you just have to find a way to quiet the baby down!" Once the iPhone owner finishes shaking the device, the on-screen baby is depicted with large red X's over its eyes. ...

Public outcry ensued, with organizations including the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome and the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation condemning Apple for approving the game's sale.

For those not familiar with Shaken Baby Syndrome it's important to stress that grave injuries occur when parents, care-givers and child minders are unaware of the extreme harm this action can produce and unable to access other strategies to calm and soothe a crying infant. In recent years a number of community-based initiatives have been successful in reducing incidents and increasing awareness of this public health issue.

Shaken Baby Syndrome is neither a laughing nor a gaming matter.

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