The suicide challenge has already been linked to more than 100 deaths in Russia
The Blue Whale Game has created horror around the globe, especially teenage suicide attempts are serious concerns for the parents.
Blue Whale Challenge, also known as the Blue Whale – Suicide Game, a monstrous online challenge in which participants are purportedly assigned some risky task and manipulate teenagers and instigate them to commit suicide over the course of 50 days.
According to the reports, a teen boy comes across the online game ‘The Blue Whale’ giving one challenge after the other. The Blue Whale accomplishes every task and keeps on moving to the subsequent levels.
These tasks are dolled-out by an anonymous administrator and participants are required to submit photo evidence each day to prove the challenge was completed.
On the final day, challenge asks him to commit suicide to win the game. This suicide challenge has already been linked to some 130 deaths in Russia.
The vicious viral game has spread online via social media accounts, and reports suggest that over 150 teen suicides have reportedly been linked to the game, no direct evidence has been found.
Origin of the killer Blue Whale Game
The reported origin of the ‘Blue Whale Game’ is rumored to be the Russian social network VK. As per reports, an early version of the game made its debut in Russia almost four years ago.
Phillip Budeikin, 21 from Russia created this insane app to clean the society. Some people call him a psychopath which he seems to be. He was arrested by russian police.
Incidents happened in Pakistan
The first case of Blue Whale Challenge reported was a 16-yr old girl from Dera Ismail Khan reported in Khyber Teaching Hospital.
Dr Azaz Jamal of KTH’s psychiatric ward who treated the girl told that she was tech-savvy and a regular computer user. “She completed the tasks and at the end she was asked to kill herself or she would be killed.
Another psychiatrist Dr Imran Khan, at Peshawar’s KTH Peshawar, told media that two young men from Mardan between the ages of 19 and 21 have approached him for treatment after suffering from depression while trying to complete the ‘Blue Whale Challenge’.
Extremely important Precautions for parents
Online is a medium frequented by teens and anonymity increases the chances of experimentation. Moreover, it is easy access without supervision that makes it dangerous and alluring at the same time.
- Monitor their digital behaviour and subtly keep an eye on their internet activity.
- Parents need to keep talking to the kids. Take interest in your child’s activities.
- Give them space to share their feelings without negating them.
- Never reprimand your teen for whining, crying or staying aloof. Try to find out the reason behind unnatural behavior.
- Talk to your child for 20 minutes every day without interrupting them.
Dr Sheraz, Head of Computer Science Department of Federal Urdu University, said the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the Cyber Crime Control Wing of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)had a great role to play to take precautionary steps to counter these threats.