The virtual world and its exposure to young minds under little or no supervision are throwing new mental health and cyber-crime challenges for families and law enforcement agencies. The new Blue Whale Challenge Dare Game floating on the Internet is a case in point. Several suicides worldwide have been reportedly linked to the deadly video game.
Stay away from the Blue Whale Challenge Dare Game
Philipp Budeikin has created the blue Whale Challenge Dare Game. The game reportedly debuted in Russia four years ago. Soon after the game started making news for all the wrong reasons, a Siberian court sentenced the 22-year-old Russian creator of the game to three years in jail for inciting Russian youths to kill themselves. The creator acknowledged the killings but wasn’t quite apologetic about the incident, forcing the judge to doubt his sanity.
Here’s what he had to say in his defense during the interview with Saint Petersburg News –
There are people – and there is a biological waste. Those who do not represent any value for society. Who cause or will cause only harm to society. I was cleaning our society of such people.
What’s more worrying? He claimed the game directly influenced over 100 deaths, and more people were ready to end their lives.
The developer’s academic and family background – Budeikin had completed courses in sound engineering and psychology for three years until he was expelled. His childhood didn’t seem quite worthwhile as he was bipolar, and his mother and older brother hit him while growing up. It was this hostile treatment that transformed him into a different person altogether.
How Blue Whale Challenge Dare Game works
Blue Whale Challenge is not an app you can download or a game you can install on your computer. It is a social media phenomenon that has taken root.
The game derives its name from one of the first disturbing challenges, where players are asked to draw a blue whale on a piece of paper and then carve it onto their body. Other tasks include watching horror movies alone or harming oneself.
The primary target audience is impressionable teenagers contacted online through ‘The Blue Whale Challenge game. Once participated, the group’s creators do not allow participants to leave.
The second step involves introducing oneself to the community and performing game-related tasks like watching gory and depressing content online before starting the game.
All players have a deadline of 50 days to complete the 50 tasks. The game begins with simple tasks like getting up early in the morning at 4:20, drawing a whale on paper, as mentioned earlier, to the most horrific ones (suicide). It also marks the end of all 50 dares.
The 50 days rules appear something like this:
- Never share anything about this game with anyone
- Wake up at 4:20 AM every day
- Listen to the recommended songs and horror movies every day.
- Cut yourself. (Different day, different cuts)
The game requires photographing or video graphing every task to furnish the proof of completion and authenticity. There are thousands of posts relating to the sick trend on Instagram. Rumors about Blue Whale Challenge Dare Game prevalence existed for quite some time, but it’s only now that the menace has witnessed an upward trend and has been escalated by manifolds.
Beware of this game!
Several have died or killed themselves playing this game. The Indian youths were the latest targets of this deadly game. A class 9 student living in the Mumbai suburb recently committed suicide. The boy had allegedly discussed the game with his friends, who weren’t initially concerned about the game until he talked about suicide. He even expressed his desire not to come to school anymore. The 14-year-old, before committing suicide, informed his friend, saying-
I am going to the building to jump.
Moments later, he jumped off the fifth floor of a building. Investigations are underway to ascertain the link between the death and the game.
From the above, it’s starkly clear that Blue Whale is not a game but a killing mission, abetting people to commit a crime by taking one’s own life voluntarily and intentionally. As such, it warrants immediate action to stop the spread of such a “game”.
People living in rural areas are somewhat immune to this attack as they have a different lifestyle from the urban regions. In urban areas, parents seem to have less control over their children.
It is therefore imperative that you educate your children to stay away from this game.
How to block anyone from installing APK from other sources?
You can do it from the settings. If you don’t see it right away, search for install unknown apps, and enable the permission or flip the switch next to All from this source. In Android, when you install the app from any other app or source, you will need to enable the permission for that app. The next time, you will be able to install it right away. Now that you know, you can block the option from the primary setting and disable developer mode.
How to monitor what kids are installing on their phones?
You can use the Family Link app from Google on your and your kids’ phone to keep an eye on apps and usage. The app also ensures that the kids cannot install the app without your permission. However, it can only be managed until the age of 13.
