Another teenage death in the country because of the Blue Whale Challenge; reason given by the culprit is astonishing, more or less a depressed teen targeting others in the name of society

Even though Philipp Budeikin(creator of the game) is arrested; the Blue Whale Challenge is still taking lives of innocent people. The game has been banned in many countries, yet it is available in various other names. According to Google figures, India ranks No. 1 in searches related to the Blue Whale Challenge. The number of deaths cannot be overlooked; the country has banned the game still death poll is high. Recently, a Lucknow based 13-year-old boy hanged himself to death to fulfill the last challenge of the game.

The Blue Whale Challenge

The Challenge began in Russia in 2013 but came to notice only in 2016 when a journalist in his report stated the unnatural deaths of teenagers who have played the game. Budeikin claimed that he invented the game to clean the society of people who have no value. Countries around the world have witnessed deaths because of the game; the numbers are unverified as in most cases nobody except the teen knows about his/her playing the game.

There are 50 tasks in the Blue Whale challenge and nearly all of them involve waking up at 4: 20 A.M. After the wakeup call, the second task is to tell your best friend that you hate them. Each task has to be proved by photographic evidence and has to be submitted to an administrator. The game works on the relationship between the administrator and the player. Then the teen is asked to watch a scary movie at midnight. Task four completes when the teen makes a note to the outside world and updates “#IAmAWhale. Alienation from society begins when they are asked to watch scary movies and listen to audio sent by the administrator. The teen is asked to cut his body with certain words to indicate that he/she is still in the game.

Sometimes they are asked to poke needles into their body, sometimes pins in their cheeks; when the body harm begins, most of them try to back out, but are threatened that their personal information from the phone would be released on the web. The teams are introduced with other whales and then the idea of suicide is seeded into their mind. Some are asked to sit on the roof, some are asked to go to railway tracks late at night, some are asked to climb a bridge; from day 30 to 49 the steps to the Blue Whale finale begin. The teens are totally alienated from the society and are slowly convinced for self-mutilation. The last step is to meet a fellow whale who would give them a date and time for suicide. On the final day, teenagers are supposed to post their photo on social media sitting on a roof with legs dangling and status updated as “End”.

Most of the teenagers who have died had a giant blue whale carved into their arms.

Death Toll

Teens from around the world have been committing suicides and there is a pattern in their deaths. According to the statements registered by their parents, it is believed that they have been playing the Blue Whale Challenge. Till now, Russia alone has witnessed 130 deaths linked to the challenge.

A 17-year old girl from India was so desperate to take her life to complete the challenge that she tried to kill herself twice in a day. A 13-year teen was from Ukraine was saved while he was seen perching on the roof edge of a roof. A 15-year-old teen in Russia thrown herself in front of the train; a 13-year-old girl from Chile reached the tenth stage making cuts on her arms; the number and ways in which these mass suicides of teens have taken place are surprising, they all point, in some way or the other towards this 4:20 A.M. game.

Police in different countries have taken the situation in their hands; the ban is not the perfect solution hence the police is running campaigns in various countries to make parents aware of the fatal challenge. Recently, UP Police started an online campaign on Twitter and Facebook to bring this challenge to notice of parents. Rahul Srivastava, DGP PRO, UP Police, said, “Parents should know about the challenge as in most of the cases they came to know about it only after the child died. An advisory has been issued from the DGP to the district SPs, which requires them to speak to teachers and principal of schools and colleges and ask them to monitor the social activities of children and counsel them.

Mastermind

Budeikin was arrested in 2016 and has been sentenced to jail for three years. In an interview, Budeikin said that everyone will soon understand everything and that through this game he is helping to clean the society. Budeikin believes that there are two kinds of people in the world; one that are beneficial for the society and the others who are a biological waste; people who have such low self-esteem and confidence that they can kill themselves for just a game are waste and should be cleaned. He admitted inciting 17 teens for suicides, but disregarded the claims that the challenge took the lives of 130 people across Russia and Europe.

It all started in 2013 when Philipp created a community called F15 to attract children; it took him 5 years to plan everything. If 1000 children would join the community he would target only 10, these 10 were, according to him a waste for the society. Those who refused the tasks or dropped out in initial phases were never his target; he would interact with the remaining ones and decide the group which would easily slip into his trap. The ones who would pass the stage that involves self-harm would be his real target. His only motto to wake people at 4:20 is because during half sleep people tend to be more vulnerable and weak. Everything was carefully planned to get to those few people who would suicide on his one word.

The Blue Whale Challenge is a warning to every parent and teacher about our young generation who is a mere puppet in the hands of social media. Depression seems to be a major cause; if we look closely at the life of prime suspect of this challenge we would agree the level of depression and isolation he carries. From childhood he lived alone most of the time since his mother was a working woman; she could only spare a few minutes to serve meals to her son. In school too, Budeikin spent most of the time on social media and had no friends; later he was expelled from school.

Most of the teenagers who committed suicide were already in isolation, spending most of the time on social media. Teen psychology considers social media as a better friend than parents and teachers. It is an alarming situation from every perspective and a slap on every face. Parents and teachers need to give time to their children despite of just feeding or educating them. Children too need to understand the limits of social media. Social media is an illusion of being social and surrounded but is slowly swallowing our generation. Everything has its own merits, but the balance between is most important.

Philipp is presently in jail; the game is banned, but is yet served to people with different names.