A Granada Minors Magistrate sent a 14-year-old boy to a youth detention centre because he had wounded his mother with a box cutter after he was denied Internet access.

The incident, which occurred last Wednesday, has caused quite a stir concerning social-media addiction.

It appears that the Internet connection was lost whilst the boy was immersed in an online war game. He asked his mother to help restore it but she couldn’t and said that she had to go, which is when he stabbed the blade into her hand.

The age of 14 is the minimum age where a minor can be held responsible for criminal acts, which is why the magistrate could take the action that he did by having the minor interned. In Spain, a minors magistrate deals with cases of minors between and including 14 and 17.

The mother accompanied the minor during his appearance before the magistrate, where the boy claimed that he was a victim of school bullying – something that might have led him to only socialising on the Net.

According to official figures, 1.5% of Spanish adolescents, suffer withdrawal symptoms if parted from their mobiles. The European average for this condition is 1.2%

This is certainly not the first case in Spain where an online addict has attacked a member of his or her family; in fact there have already been several cases just in the province of Granada. One case was particularly saddening as a minor struck his blind mother who had attempted to limit Internet access.

(News: Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)