Tips To Save Your Child From Blue Whale Menace!
19-08-2017 | Posted By: Rajni Joshi | 2690 View(s)
“The suicide game” or the Blue Whale Challenge has created a sense of panic among parents. Believing or not believing in the rumours about this online game is completely your decision, but we can not ignore what we are hearing and reading in the news almost every day. The game is suspected to be linked with many suicides among teenagers, and this is why we have tried to sum up these basic but some very important tips to save your child from Blue Whale Menace !
What exactly is the Blue Whale Challenge?
Well, Blue Whale Challenge involves certain tasks ranging from waking up at 4:20 in the morning to self-harming. However, there is very little evidence of the existence of the game, but the story has scared everyone as suicide cases have been noticed around the world. Now what happens is, the kids sign up to the game, they are given 50 tasks for 50 days(one for each day) the last task ends with player’s suicide. For ensuring that kids are taking care of all the rules, the kids are supposed to take photos of the tasks they complete. You won’t believe, but it is also found that kids are even warned to finish the given tasks once they start playing or they will be tracked down by the administrators. Carving a whale on your hand is one of the 50 tasks.
However, the creator of the game has been arrested in Russia, but unfortunately, the game is still affecting teenagers all around the world. There’s no direct proof linking the teens to the online suicide game, but when it comes to children’s safety, we can never take any risk! For avoiding these risks, we all should keep a few things in mind to save our children from such online games.
How To Save Your Child From Blue Whale Menace?
1. Be Your Child’s Best Friend
You should get involved in your child’s life which is only possible when you are your child’s best friend. You can not just force them to be friends, but you have to create and share such a bond with them to let that happen. You should know their worlds, by worlds we mean both online and offline worlds. Don’t force them to share their problems or feelings with you but provide them with such a friendly and comfortable environment where they feel free to reach you, and they do not hesitate while sharing their thoughts and opinions with you. You need to remain positively engaged with them in conversations about their lives, friends and feelings. We understand you should give them their space, but you should at least know what your child is doing in their space.
2. Keep A Check On The Sites They Frequently Visit
You should keep a check on the sites they commonly Visit. We can not just lock them in a room, or we can not take all the gadgets away from them to protect them. And doing so won’t be a wise step. What you can do is, just see what sites your child is using, and how often does your child use it. Try to find out some common ground in their world instead of keeping yourself busy in your work and social life.
3.Notice The Changes In Your Child’s Behavior
Do you observe any changes in your child’s sleep, eating pattern or you see any cuts or burn marks on their body? These changes or observations are not only connected to such games but can also be an alarm for you to talk to your child immediately. Apart from these, isolation, irritability, being more secretive than before, avoiding conversations with you can also be a few of the red flags that you should watch.
4. Do Not Avoid To Talk About Suicide Games
You’ll be surprised to know that many parents avoid having conversations about these dangerous games because they feel, not discussing the problem can save their child! Do you feel, if you don’t discuss with them they won’t know about it? You can be wrong here! If you won’t have conversations or discussions about it, your child has a lot of other options to get informed! Please, do not let this happen! Talk to your child about the game, tell them that it’s not good for them, what are the dangerous effects of the game. In short, just tell them why you don’t want them to play it! Avoiding the problem is not a solution, talking about it, finding a resolution and coming to some conclusion can help you to protect and save your child from such games.
Talk to them about depression and suicide in general. Tell them that it’s not the solution and there are thousand other ways of dealing with the problem. Encourage your child to be positive in life, encourage your child to be happy. In case your child expresses a desire to commit suicide, do not take it as a joke. It is found that most suicide victims discuss with at least one person they trust before committing suicide!
5.Empower Your Child To Handle Problems
Empowering here means, reporting deviants, bullies and blocking them. Tell them what is wrong, let them know what is unusual. You can not just follow your child everywhere. What you can do is, just empower your child enough to handle problems.
We hope you take help from these tips to save your child from Blue Whale Menace which has gone viral all around the world. Listen to your child, give them your time, make them realise that they are loved, show them you care for them, keep a check on what they do, keep a watch on what sites do they visit, observe changes in their diet, sleeping pattern or behaviour. And most importantly, do not ignore the sudden changes in their behaviour.
Do not completely rule over their life but at least have an idea what your child is doing! Do not forget to share this with your loved ones as the shocking incidents of committing suicides have been noticed all over the world.
