Why Teenagers are Vulnerable to Blue Whale Challenge

These days teens are feeling more lost than ever. They have working parents and kids don’t get enough love and attention. Therefore they feel vulnerable to anyone who shows an interest in them, even if it is twisted interest in trying to get them to commit suicide. The Blue Whale Challenge makes the teen believe that they want to kill themselves because there is a better life waiting for them on the other side. If they refuse to play the game then the admin threatens the player saying that they will be tracked down and meet a horrible fate if they don’t commit suicide.

The minds behind the game are using the specific psychological techniques to make their players as vulnerable as possible. The game admins job is to use psychological strategies to get control over these teens’ minds. They choose the victim over through internet from social media groups, selecting the most vulnerable teens and creating a sense that they are chosen ones. These teens are then given tasks to complete for 50 days. On the 50th day, the admin ask them to commit suicide. The task ranges from isolation to self-harm and ultimately suicide. The game has allegedly claimed over 100 lives in Russia and Europe.

How does the administrator track the completion of Task?

During the course of the challenge, the administrator ask proof of loyalty, such as by making them cut symbols into their body and showing the administrator a picture or a video. They make the teens wake up at 4:20 in the morning for days on end to make them increasingly tired and unable to make rational decisions. They make them watch horror movies, scenes of destruction, and other teens committing suicide, making it seem like the world is going to hell.These are the signs which one should look for if you think that your teen is palying the deadly game.

How to prevent Blue Whale Challenge and other dangerous games?

Today everybody is busy earning money and building their professional lives but during this course of time we forget to give attention to the people we care about. According to a study, every human being crave for attention and if they don't get it from you, they seek out to the world which is very dangerous for teens as they don't know what harm these people can do to them. The best way to prevent Blue Whale and other such games is to spend more time with your teens, even if they pretend that they don't want to talk to you. The more time you spend with them, the less vulnerable they will be for Blue Whale challenge.It is advisable for parents to keep close watch over what your teen does on the internet, including all their social media.

"There is no censorship on gaming and digital media blunts this concept in infancy. Content creators and distribution channels carry responsibility. Gaming is quickly evolving and becoming ubiquitious especially with 1st time internet users. We need to set the benchmark as satisfaction and recommendation index and not the hours played, repeat usage etc.Gaming has also proved to be boon in areas like Learning, Fitness and skills" said Herat Maniar, Vice President, Strategy and Business Development.

Risky content should never be distributed to children as they are most vulnerable. Settings on devices, service providers etc are not adequate – parents and teachers need to take their interactions beyond the obvious academics.

Central Governement Taking initiative to Remove The Game

According to reports, the dangers from the game are real. But to say that children are playing the game is not to say that depression is not a major cause of suicide. In fact, experts point out that while curiosity and thrill can be a reason for youngsters to try the game, those who are already depressed are most vulnerable to it. The Blue Whale Game is difficult to track it asks the player to share their personal mobile number and email id. The developers keep using different tactics to get them back by sending mails and messages. The players are supposed to end the evidence of their completion of their task to the game administrators by sending picture of video, who then qualifies them to attempt the next task.

To avoid spreading this deadly game, the central government has asked major online players including Facebook, WhatsApp, Google, to remove links that lead to or promote the game. According to reports, some steps have been taken by social media giants like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube to spread awareness about the game. Typing hashtags commonly used by whales will first land you on to a page with helpline links and numbers. There is also a provision to report a tweet or social media activity and help is offered to the users. While links on the game can be removed from social media sites, it will continue to exist in the underground web.

Blue Whale is not the only suicide game out there. It might be the most thrilling, but there are other sites which tell you how to commit suicide. Parents and teachers need to take their interactions beyond the obvious academics.