No bingo for three months! So ruled Welsh magistrates with regard to an unnamed couple whose son has been habitually truant from school. Citing extreme parental negligence, the court has ordered the 52-year-old parents of a high school student in Neath, South Wales, to remain at home between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. every night for 90 days, so as to encourage their son to attend classes.

Having tried other methods of “parental discipline” for almost a year, the court was forced to take drastic punitive measures when it was revealed that the couple went out to local pubs and bingo parlors while their son remained absent from school. So as to ensure that the parents no longer shirk their responsibilities, they are also being ordered to wear electronic tags for the prescribed time period. Obviously, the parents have their own lesson to learn: as important as bingo is, it still plays second fiddle to a proper education.