A few days ago, my daughter of 13 asked me if I knew about the Blue Whale Game. Thanks to Steemit, the word whale got my attention :-) and I asked her to tell me about it. Well, you know she said, that game with this videos ending with suicide. The words staggered out a bit, not really giving me a clear idea of what the game was about.
I didn’t like the word suicide in it and decided to Google it. What if found was terrifying. I am not into negative news but I want my fellow Steemian parents to know about this.
The Blue Whale Game or Challenge is a series of challenges or dares one has to perform to reach to next levels. The challenges range from climbing a monument, making incisions in your body parts to the ultimate challenge which is suicide.
This sounds like a joke but it isn’t.
My daughter’s teacher spoke about it because a young boy in a nearby town committed suicide. They discovered a Whatsapp group on his phone with another 83 fellow students actively playing the game. The Wiki page lists almost 20 countries where suicides have happened.
I tried to find the game but couldn’t, Google and other search engines have been forced to remove all links to it. There is also a lot of contra-movement going on to extradite the game but the game is still spreading.
It might seem totally un-understandable why a game like this can spread. If we ought to understand this, we have to understand the averse effects one can have when told what to do or what not to do, it is the law of our nature that creates evolution. It is the reason that hippie children become clerks and clerkie children become hippies.
Children don’t need to be taught, they need to be guided in their self-learning.
My daughter’s teacher did what he thought was best. Informing them about the existence of this game but information spreads knowledge and information goes lightning fast these days. It is probably due to journalists and bloggers that the game got spread in the first place.
I will not argue against his approach of trying to provide information but he did something else which was a very big mistake, he told them that anybody who watches one of the videos will be put in jail.
I see 3 big mistakes in this one action:
Firstly, he lied.
Secondly, he tells the children what not to do.
Thirdly, he translates his own fears to something scary for the children.
If you see this from the eyes of the child, there is a lot going on:
Firstly, they are not stupid, they feel the lie.
Secondly, they want to do anything that is forbidden.
Thirdly, they want to be brave and go against their fears.
Combine this with the impossibility to understand suicide and you end up with very curious children about this whole “game”.
I asked my daughter if she was curious about the videos and the answer was yes. Looking into the why of this curiosity is the only way out here, guiding into the awareness of feelings and bringing the source of it into the light dissolves the source.
I am not a psychologist, this is just my own perspective. Once again I am reminded how having children can be a great path to a higher awareness that shows the way. Selfless service and unconditional love are very high values many of us are not familiar with.
I ask the universe that this game will not further spread and that parents and teachers will realise that blunt refusal and no’s have opposite effect, guiding through awareness is the only key to unlock the full potential of a child.
Take care,
bub
Really excellent post @bubke , both for drawing attention to this sick and terrifying phenomenon - and also for the perspective you add on how best to educate children. I totally agree with you that the teacher made a number of mistakes. This is quite typical of ways that most school systems are quite ill equipped to prepare the next generation for challenges they'll have to face, growing up in a world of internet.
Resteeming this important article. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for your positive comment again @stillgideon. And for the resteem off course :-) We all handle from our own perspectives. I shouldn't have used the word mistake because that's me proclaiming i am a smarter or better human being than the teacher. Things are as they are, a point in evolution, i used to be teacher, it ain't easy :-)
Wow I'm totally shocked to hear of this game. I won't even express what I feel of whoever created it, it's so unbelievable.
I'm so pleased you the 'whale' caught your attention and you checked this out and are spreading this awareness. I've Re-steemed and will share on Facebook too. Parents need to know about this.
I agree with you that lying is not a good example to set to children and they are usually more tuned in than adults and feel it straight away. And yes many will want to try it more if they're told not to!
Discussing the dangers and choosing what is right and safe for yourself and your friends seems like a much better way to deal with it.
I hope it is banned, but that might not stop what is already in circulation.
Shocked is the right word here as is 'unbelievable'. The creator of this game has been arrested, the game is still on strangely enough. In a way, i shouldn't have given it more publicity but on the other hand we ought to know about it's existence, a difficult trade-off, I tried to not make it spectacular and spoke more about how i dealt with it. Let me just hope things like that don't cross my way too much as I love the general positivity on Steemit. Much love and thanks for your beautiful comment and resteem
I feel awareness is so important. You don't know how many lives might be saved because you posted and others have shared and it also makes people more aware of what other games might be doing to children too. It so easy for parents to be busy and trust that these games are ok, so that awareness being shared is so important.
Steemit is very positive, but sharing awareness and truth is creating a better world and that is a very positive thing to do. You're welcome. Thanks for sharing what is going on, as a parent I feel it is very important to know this kind of information.
I never heard about this game. Some things are just not possible to imagine. I have respect for how you approached the situation, hiding the truth can be a very dangerous behaviour. I imagine you have beautiful children @bubke :-)
Resteemed to spread awareness
Thanks for the resteem @gentlesoul
How did you post a photo comment @bubke ? I didn't know that was possible. I also want to make use of my extensive collection of memes...
Copy-Paste :-)
Maybe on a computer, but I thought I tried that before unsuccessfully. Will try again soon!
Wow Bub, what a question you were presented with by your daughter. I'm glad she feels she can talk to you about it. I instantly had to think about 'transition rites' reading about the interest kids have in this game. Transition rites in to adult hood had an important place in culture because it is essential for children to be able to 'prove' they are worthy candidates for adulthood. They are asked to show their courage in some decent challenge that holds some danger but if you use your sensibility it won't really hurt you, you will just gain confidence by showing your courage. Sane adults connected to life made up these challenges, not sick computer addicts stuck in their own little mind world with no real connection to life or the consequences of their actions. I am currently writing a teenager fantasy about transition in to adulthood, because I value value being given to this important transition. The interest in this game just shows boredom and lack of 'real' challenge and connectedness to community in which they are also respected in my opinion. The challenges @likedeeler presents are therefore a very good idea I find!
The Waldorf education system in Holland has preserved this valuable transition rite in this way that they have a month at a crucial moment in the life of a teenager, that is dedicated to transition and guided by the school. I have been a witness of this proces as my sister is a teacher who is privileged to guide the students. Parents are involved and asked to write a letter in which they say goodbye to their child as if it goes on a real journey and give it all the advise they want to give to it for their new life as an adult. The parents also have to give a suitcase in which they put things they want to give to their child on their journey. Things to remember their childhood by but also things to give them strength. They are then taken along by the teacher through the story of Percival ( Arthur legend) in to adulthood. Along the way they 're asked to do things that take courage like fall backwards from a higher point into the waiting arms of their classmates and walk over hot coals. They also have a camping experience. It's beautiful and the children are very much touched by it and on top of that it creates a strong bond in the group. Homeschooling has many advantages but when a schooling system works well and its goal is helping children become 'whole adults' it can also give valuable processes like this as a group experience that can not be given when homeschooling unless you involve other kids.
The transit to adulthood is a process which is difficult to say when it is finished. It is a beautiful idea to symbolise it through the rite you and @likedeeler are describing. You wrote quite a comment here, i think it makes up for a beautiful post, hint.
I agree that good schools are a very interesting experience for children, the social aspect being the most valuable. I would never think about homeschooling when there is a Waldorf school around but that is not always the case, it all depends on the circumstances...
Much love clara-andriessen and thank you an amazing contribution here.
Here an example of an initiative in Germany called Drachinzeit (female dragon time) about a four day initiation ritual in nature for girls of age 12 to 15. It´s about the transitioning from girl to young woman. Unfortunately the site is only in German.
https://www.drachinzeit.de/
It looks amazing Likedeeler!
Ula would be very happy to read your fantasy novel when ready :-)
Realy? That would be nice! It's in Dutch though...
Great post, resteeming. I think I know where this sprang from. There was a movie with a game just as you describe. The movie was rated R. I don't recall the name as it wasn't my type of movie. Very disturbing....
Thanks for the resteem! I guess it was the movie Nerve. That movie was screeming for a game like that to come out, totally horrible but predictable. Strange times man...
I have heard about suicide games before, both on the internet, and off. Being a parent is very scary. The way I deal with it is to ask my children to report anything disturbing they see on the internet and I make sure that I am in no way judgmental about what they were doing to stumble on whatever bad thing they found. I know from my daughter kids were sharing porn on their phones in primary school.
Correct approach, i wouldn't expect anything else from you :-) If your daughter came up with this, then you also know that they DO report and that the trust relation is there, making the parenting a bit less scary. Thanks for your comment, hope you are doing well, much love.
WTF?!?!?!!
I remember hearing something about a game where "disconnected" children were committing suicide because of the game. However I don't remember the name and maybe it was this one??
What is most disturbing is that YOUR child was talking about this. From what I know about you, you are an exceptional father. Yet here she is exposed and contemplating this game.....This is just one of the MANY reasons that I would not ever even consider any kind of school.
Every time your child is out of our environment they are exposed to who knows what and ALL schools operate under varying degrees of rules and old paradigm programming. There are to many people that you don't know influencing your children.
Children are like sponges. It is of the utmost importance to provide for them a the purest, healthiest, most conscious and responsible environment possible and school will NEVER provide that.
Thanks for the post it is very disturbing but as I always say "I prefer to know the truth as dark as it may be then be ignorant"
Blessings Bredren~*~
You are very right in your saying @quinneaker. Children are like sponges and schools can be a dangerous exposition. Like you said, anything outside the protected environment can be potentially dangerous. I think my children are outside of the sponge zone and it is our task as parents to prepare them handling any situation, i think it is simply not correct to not let them experience the non-protected environment once they reach a certain age. The role of the parent evolves as much as the children evolve.
I truly appreciate your direct writing style and i am happy to have met you here on Steemit brother, totally disturbing post indeed, much love.
Thanks for the post and for the comment. Both insightful and valuable for exploration.
I respect you and wish you the best.
Thanks for the compliment and support. I truly appreciate it. Hope to get to know you better and to share more with each other that benefits life.
Living close to Russia, where the game originated, I'm already familiar with this problem and in our country we've had kids involved in it.
The problem you raise about educating kids is quite interesting. You're right to say children will be curious and would want to do something forbidden. In my opinion, this game got too much publicity, it was all over the news from what I hear. I no longer watch the news and one of the reasons for that is that I didn't want my kids exposed to news about rapes, suicides and similar horrible stuff. And when something disturbing does appear in a conversation I try to talk to them, try to make sure they understand why something is wrong or stupid.
As for this particularly sick game, I believe it will die down. If I remember correctly the game's creator has been arrested some time ago.
Thank you for you another nice comment @ladyrebecca. The game's creator has indeed been arrested with 6 court cases against him.
Not watching the news anymore is something everybody should do, I stopped doing that 20 years ago. FB is not much better i must say, i think i muted more than 50% of my friends and still got all this negativity in my feed. Needless to say, glad I found Steemit :-) I was in a way doubtful to write a post about it as any article is in a way publicity but i was just totally shocked by it, phew. Much love.
Thanks - hadn't come across the "game". My daughter is only 9 years old and I have always taught her not to believe everything a teacher says! I too am a teacher!
Thanks - upvoted. You may be interested in a project to help minnows further: Minnows Accelerator Project. Join over 100 like-minded quality content creators.
:-) Thanks for your comment. I also was a teacher in a far past of my life, it becomes a bit boring if you have to stick to the same stupid program every year.
9 years old eh, a few more years and suddenly, there is this little lady turning into that very young woman, it is a neverending interesting path :-). Much love.
Yes, exactly, if I could teach my own syllabus it could be interesting - but teaching a granulated desiccated curriculum botched by committees and then monitored by factory management techniques is not.
Many girls here reach puberty at 10 or 11 so not many years to wait!
WARNING The content of this comment was BANNED in 3 countries, including yours!
Wow, an intense game!! I completely agree with you in providing information to children openly and honestly, talking to a child as if they are adolescent is precisely what exacerbates that behavior.
All marketers know, if you want something to get more attention, say that it was 'banned' or 'forbidden' guaranteed to improve views!
Sad but true, the best marketing is indeed "banned". Just curious, did you get that warning just by opening the Wiki page or some other action? In which country you live @rieki? Thanks for the comment!
Haha, no that warning was just a joke to elaborate the point :) I live in Bali at the moment :)
wow
very smart points you make.. dont lie to the kids man.. it will backfire..
Unbelievable this game exists.. what the heck kind of kali yuga is this still!
good you inform people about this.. i much preferred the pokemon craze/.
Thanks @eco-alex. Kali yuga indeed, i didn't go into how a child can go this far because honestly, i simply can not grasp that. Kali Yuga is a very good one-liner to cope with that...
The pokemon craze :-) Does that exist here in India you think?
It is so sad when these terrible games or posts are out there, influencing young and vulnerable children into a very sick, sick situation. I just hate it when there are those who get a kick out of thinking that they are so powerful that they can manipulate the innocent to do something terrible like suicide. It makes me so angry that these negative influences are penetrating into areas that they have no right to be in. They really need to put a stop to these horrible posters.
It is a very good thing that your children can approach you and ask about anything that may concern them. That is really a key element in parenting.....open communication. Thank goodness your daughter talked to you. You handled it well. I don't understand the teacher though. He/she should know how impressionable children are.
I hope you and your family are doing okay after this unfortunate situation. You are such a good parent that you are even spreading the word to alert others. Thank-you so much @bubke for your thoughtfulness. Thank goodness my daughter is an adult. Please have a wonderful weekend!!! :D
Great post @bubke, thank you for sharing information about this sick game. Your approach is spot on. Never lie to children. I hope your daughter has lost her curiosity for it.
Why doesn´t somebody come up with the Steemit Whale Game for kids then?
Some challenge to do good and get rewarded in steem.
Help a granny across the street, plant a tree, feed the homeless, stuff like that.
Would be another great pitch for steemit.
How steemit saved the children from the Blue Whale Game.
If the kids are too young to have an account, then their parents have to open one to write about their kids endeavours. Win-win. And as soon as the kids are old enough, they will want their own account. Get them early, I say!
Maybe this idea would be good material for another ecotrain challenge, initiative, proposal,
article, cooperation with whales, problem solving, social initiative.
What do I know? I´m just an elderly guy who can´t even type porperly.
For the first time ever I upvoted my own comment to bring it back directly below my main comment where it was located originally, so you understand which idea i am referring to. 😎
Mr. Funny @likedeeler, what would a post be without your comment? :-)
😂 I think the post wouldn't exist.
What a great idea likedeeler!
I think this is a great idea and much better than killing and war games that are out there.
If children are bombarded with killing and war then it becomes natural and normal to them and real wars are no big deal. This needs to stop and be replaced with proper role models and teaching good through computer games not bad.
Although this post is a month old, it still deserves endless attention for this sick topic.
I think you did the right thing in talking again with your child about it. Its what you say, if you tell half stories, the kids will even get more interested about it Have a decent debate, not fearing to use some bold language because they are kids.
its still scary crap that blue whale thing
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STOPSociety is producing more and more dead ends and I guess as so-called-hippies and/or members of society, the best we can do is try to show how life is full of possibilities, even when it doesn't seem so. I think it's this perceived lack of real choices and perceived futility of "one person trying to change the world" that leads many people to commit suicide, as well as how ostracized people are for trying.
It's amazing that you can talk openly about this sort of thing with your daughter.
thank you