Note of caution over Blue Whale video game

Ravi Chandel

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, August 19

The curiosity among children of playing online games is evident. Moreover, the parents and the guardians are happily gifting or offering them a smart phone or video games to make them feel special and happy.

But nobody has seen or even imagined in their dreams that these online games will take the lives of their children. Recently, a number of cases have been reported in the country in which children of 8 to 16 year age-group are committing suicide to complete the final task of the game.

The Blue Whale Game, also known as “Blue Whale Challenge”, is an Internet “game”. The game is based on the relationship between the participants and the administrators. It involves a series of duties which have to be completed in 50 days, which means one task per day, some of which involve self-damage. 

Some tasks can be given in advance, while the others can be passed on by the administrators on each day, the last task being suicide. 

These tasks includes waking up at 4:20 am, climbing a crane, crossing the railway tracks while a train is coming, poking a needle in the arm or leg and jumping from the bridge or roof.

The creator Phillip Budeikin (22), a citizen of Russia, has been put in prison on the charge of inciting the children and the youth to kill themselves.

In India, the government has already banned the game also given directions to the social sites to remove it from their account as well.

But still, the cases of committing suicide by the youth and children are coming repeatedly in the media. The five cases on the Wikipedia site have been reported in India.

Besides, around 35 cases of suicide by the youth and children have been observed by the media. 

Shanky Singh (14), a teenager, said, “We heard about the Blue Whale Challenge online game and also searched about it, but it is not working in India because our government has banned it.” 

Moreover, one should know what is good and bad , you cannot follow anyone blindly and do all irrelevant things just for the sake of completing the task, he added.

Dr Arun Bansal, a psychiatrist, said, “We heard about this game and one case of ‘Blue Whale Challenge’ game has also come to notice in Ludhiana.”

These days it is difficult to keep the children away from the online games, but still there are many ways to engage children in some other activities, including outdoor games, to try and put a tab on their activities. And don’t let them sleep alone.