In today’s smart world everyone, especially, teenagers are addicted to smartphones. There are numerous applications for smartphones on stores for utility, for fun and entertainment. A terrifying application called Bluewhale “Suicide Challenge” is responsible for the suicide death of 130 teenagers in Russia, the place where this application started.
What is this Bluewhale “Suicide Challenge?”
This application brainwashes its users with challenges and leads them to commit suicide.
It challenges users to perform some dangerous activities and to upload pictures of the events. The challenge starts by urging the gamers to wake up at odd hours and watch horror videos, listen to haunting music and then quickly becomes more extreme. It compels teenagers to attempt self-harming and mutilating activities daily. This is to be conducted for 50 days and then the photographs of the sick activities should be uploaded on completion.The last challenge is to kill oneself. If one refuses to do so, the game creator threatens to harm the challengee’s loved ones, as he has the gamer’s personal information. This game can not be uninstalled once it is downloaded, it also hacks one’s phone and steals your information closing the option to move out. The application creators are looking for victims instead of teenagers looking for a game to play. It is available for a closed community. The creators of the game reach teenagers who include certain hashtags on social media and get involved with some social groups.
This is how teenagers are getting attracted!
It is mostly vulnerable teenagers who become victims of this horrible game. They get attracted to this game because of an invitation from the game itself, thinking it is a thrill. The youngsters are totally involved in the game for 50 days and get addicted to it. Sometimes they can’t even understand the severity of the game thinking that all the challenges can be faced to become a hero. Even teens who are closely engaged with the smart and technology world, can’t even grasp what is right and wrong. Starting with their friends and connected to them on social media, they are easily influenced.
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This “Suicide Challenge” application came from Russia and has followers now in Portugal, Brazil, and the UK. Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian newspaper is the first to report about the existence of the death groups on Russia’s popular social media network “Vkontakte.” According to their report, 130 teenage suicides were reported in Russia between November 2015 and April 2016 and all the victims are members of same social media groups on the internet.
Teenagers get attracted easily to new games for fun without much discernment about the subsequent consequences. Parents should observe what children are downloading on the internet. The Internet is a huge ocean and social media can be a big influencer. Both come with pros and cons, it behooves us to be informed, vigilant and careful.
