DAD PUTS MARIJUANA-SMOKING SON'S WII GIFT ON E-BAY

Online debates over parenting skills and marijuana legalization have
been sparked by a Waterloo man who put his son's Christmas gift for
sale on e-Bay after he caught the 15-year-old smoking marijuana.

The man, who goes by the e-Bay user name "k_lid" claimed on the
auction site that he spent weeks scouring stores in order to buy
Guitar Hero III for his son, Isaac, to play on his Nintendo Wii.

After finally scoring a copy of the game, the elementary school
teacher came home one day to find his son smoking marijuana in his
backyard with two friends.

Though Isaac was unaware of the gift, the father decided to put it up
for auction as a way of expressing his disappointment in his son.

"While I doubt this will keep him from doing pot again, I think it
will make him think twice before doing illegal ... drugs on my
property," he wrote on the web page for the auction, where he detailed
the whole situation.

As the price of the game skyrocketed, hundreds of people weighed in
with their opinion of his parenting technique on blogs and on the
item's page.

Most people decried the seller for being overly harsh on his son,
while a minority rang in with support for the father, who later wrote
on the page that he appreciated the debate.

"I think these discussions are fascinating and highly productive," he
wrote.

"I am glad to see both veteran parents and young adults getting
involved in the discussion."

The item ultimately sold on Dec. 10 for $9,100.01 to an Australian
bidder named "aspire1700computer," who had also previously made a
dozen consecutive uncontested bids on the item, single-handedly
raising the price from $227 to $9,000.

The seller wrote on the website that if the price of the game was
pushed up because of uncontrolled bidding and the buyer did not pay,
he would simply give the game to his son, who ultimately found out
about the auction from his father.