Parents, here are 5 things you must know about the Blue Whale Challenge

Credit to Author: Rajib Singha| Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2017 15:15:47 +0000

If you are a parent and you don’t know anything about the Blue Whale Challenge, then it’s important that you do. What is the Blue Whale Challenge? The Blue Whale Challenge is supposedly an Internet game where players are assigned 50 different tasks by the game admin (also known as curator). A player has to complete all these tasks within 50 days and can only win it by completing the last task – which is to take their own life. According to Wikipedia, Blue Whale Game has its origins in Russia and is the creation of a 21-year-old man called Philipp Budeikin. The game began back in 2013 and there have been 130 separate cases of suicide that are linked to it. This claim, however, still remains unverified. The name of the game originates from the unverified phenomenon of ‘beached whales’ – refers to whales who strand themselves on land ending their lives. How is the Blue Whale Game played? Just how this game is played is a mystery – some say it can be played by installing a mobile app while some are of the view that the ‘curators’ recruit participants via Social Networking sites. And there are theories that people who are willing to play the game leave messages in places such as public forums or comment boxes of shady websites using hashtags like #bluewhalechallenge, #curatorfindme, #i_am_whale to help the game’s admins to find them. There are 50 tasks that every player has to undertake while playing this game. These include making cuts on the arm, carving certain characters on the hand using a sharp object, watching psychedelic and horror movies, visiting a railroad, standing on the edge of a building and other such daring and self-destructive tasks –with jumping off a building as the final one. Reported cases of suicide linked to Blue Whale Game in India The following these cases (sourced from Wikipedia) are allegedly linked to the Blue Whale Challenge based on anecdotes from the deceased or affected person’s family, friends, and acquaintances. There is still no concrete evidence that can prove their association with the Blue Whale Game. But, the details in these incidences do paint a picture of this sinister game – such as the behavior of the victims and what they did before ending their lives. A 16-year-old boy from Kerala committed suicide on 26 July 2017. A 14-year-old boy from Mumbai committed suicide by jumping off from a building. On 10 August 2017, a student from Indore tried taking his life but was stopped by a group of students. On 10 August 2017, a 14-year-old boy was stopped by the Maharashtra Police before he could complete the final task of the Blue Whale Challenge. On 12 August 2017, a student from West Bengal committed suicide by asphyxiating himself as per reports. On 15 August 2017, a 16-year-old boy from Kerela committed suicide by hanging himself. A 22-year-old man from Kerela committed suicide by hanging himself on 16 August 2017. On 21 August 2017, a 24-year-old girl jumped off from the 7th floor of a building. She survived the fall with severe injuries. A 15-year-old boy from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand has been reported to have drowned himself in a city lake on 21 August 2017. Who are most likely to play this game? The answer is well covered by the following article on indiatoday.in Why will anyone play a game such a Blue Whale Challenge that asks them to end their life Now, the most important question – What should parents/guardians do about it? To begin with, we must understand that the Blue Whale Challenge is not a mobile app nor a website or a social media group until proven otherwise – it’s a phenomenon. Which means, you cannot prevent the game from getting installed on your kid’s phone nor can you block websites. Yes, you may bar your kids from using the Internet or social media but to what extent? So, what remains? Your good old bonding with your children – the strongest shield that can keep them safe from all the bad things in life including the Internet. Prohibiting myself from giving any parental advice to you, I’ll just keep…
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