Blue Whale Challenge – Here’s everything you want to know about it (watch video)

Click to know everything from how the game works to why kids take up such challenges.

By: Shaloo Tiwari | | Updated: August 17, 2017 12:06 pm

If you are reading about the “blue whale challenge” and want to dismiss it as just another fad, you need to rethink. The inventor of this game has been arrested but that doesn’t mean that this game has stopped. This is a game that is still played by everyone. There are a lot of administrators that run the game and the system/procedure created by them is still prevalent all around the world. A 14-year-old boy from Mumbai recently committed suicide while playing this game.

What is this Blue Whale game?
Blue Whale is an internet game that exists in several countries. It consists of 50 tasks that are given to the players/participants (they are mostly teens or kids), and they have to complete it within 50 days. The final challenge of this game is to make the kids commit suicide. The name of this game is derived from “beached whales”, which a phenomenon in which ‘cetaceans’ strand themselves on land and die (in a way commit suicide). It began in Russia in 2013 by a so called group “death group” on the VKontakte social network. The first suicide allegedly happened in 2015. It is claimed to have been invented by a former psychology student who was expelled from his university, named Phillipp Budeikin.

How does this game work?
It is a relationship and network based game that exists mainly on the relationship between the challenger (the kids/participants) and the administrators. The bond is created based on the series of duties/tasks given to the participants by the administrators per day, which involves tasks as grave as self-mutilation. These tasks are distributed amongst the members and are passed to each other, the last task being suicide. The tasks have to be completed in 50 days and by nature the tasks isolate the children from their friends and family by making them stay up all night or carve a specific phrase or a whale on the person’s hand. Here are a few tasks given to the participants:

Carve shapes on the body part with sharp objects
Poke needles on the body
Listen to scary music
Watch scary movies alone
Stand on a terrace/bridge
Watch scary videos sent by them

At the end, they also ask the participants to click a picture of themselves before committing suicide.

Reported blue whale game suicide cases
There have been 19 cases till now that are reported. These are cases from the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Colombia, Georgia, India, Italy, Kenya, Portugal, Paraguay, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Spain, United States Uruguay and Venezuela. Most of them completed the final task, as in committed suicide, and few were hospitalised after they hurt themselves severely.

What makes the kids take up something that ends with suicide?
This is a game that plays with your psychology, the “tasks” that are given to the children/teens are crafted in a way to make them isolated and make them feel that they are not needed. For example, they are given the task to discontinue friendship with their best friends and not share feelings with someone close. This not only makes them feel lonely but also agitates and disconnects them from the whole world. If a child suffers from social anxiety, she might already be overestimating how bad her friendships are and therefore fall prey to such commands. 50 days is a good enough time for the negativity to sink in the child. They groom the children online in a way that the child is completely brain-washed and forgets the difference between right or wrong. The other aspect is that they are given these tasks in the form of challenges, which in the case of teenagers becomes a matter of being validated by these administrators.

Blue whale game in India
Recently, you must have come across a news of 14-year-old Manpreet who jumped off the terrace of a 7-storey building to complete the Blue Whale challenge.You must note that there are many children who are under the influence of this deadly game, as the person who kills himself gets a note from some other kid which tells the child how and where to commit suicide. That means there are other children too who are already under the influence of this game.

What can you do as a parent or loved one to save your child from coming under the influence of this game?
You as an informed parent can do a lot to take charge and save the child come out of this menace.
1. Keep a strict watch on your kids.

2. Note changes in the child’s behaviour, like for example if he is trying to keep himself/herself aloof or remains irritated most of the time. Or if he/she has suddenly stopped talking to his/her best friend. Anything unusual you find in him/her, you should note down and plan out how you are going to approach this situation.

3. Keep a tab of any unusual mark or wound on you see on his/her body. Self-harm is the prime objective of this game. He/she could be suddenly wearing full sleeve t-shirts, which could be an attempt to hide his/her wound. Make sure you check from time to time.

4. Talk to your child about this, regardless. Even if you know your child isn’t the type who would involve himself/herself in such games; make sure you talk to them. These people prey on kids with low self-esteem and under confident kids. Make sure you don’t leave your kids vulnerable.

5. Do cyber policing: Keep a tab on your child’s history. He/She might want to hide the history; you can use a parental block or filter their search pattern. Keep an eye on their online activity.

What to do when you find out your child is playing/participating in the game?

Contact cyber police for all the legal procedures and to take care of the psychological aspect, immediately contact a professional psychologist.

Here’s a detailed discussion on this topic you would want to watch:

Published: August 4, 2017 5:02 pm | Updated:August 17, 2017 12:06 pm

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