The Most Dangerous Challenge

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When you hear or see the words, “Blue Whale,” you think of the animal, right? Well what if the word “game” or “challenge” was attached to it? Then what do you think of? What if I told you the meaning of the Blue Whale Game or Challenge was not innocent? The Blue Whale Game, also known as the Blue Whale Challenge, is a series of tasks assigned to players by a manager over a fifty days, with the final task requiring the player to commit suicide. You read that right; it’s a suicide game.

There was a Russian journalist named Galina Mursaliyeva who first drew attention to things known as “death groups” in an article that was published in the Russian newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, in April of 2016. The article informed people that the death group “F57” on Russian social media site, Vkontakte, that she said to have caused one hundred thirty teenagers to kill themselves. The reason why it was given the name “Blue Whale” is unclear. The game is said to run on different social media websites and is described as a relationship between a manager and a player. Over a fifty-day period, the manager sets one chore per day; the chores seem unusual but innocent to begin with, but later move onto self-harming behaviors, leading to the participant’s suicide on the last day. Claims of deaths connected to the game have been reported worldwide.

Many experts suggest “Blue Whale” was originally a subject matter of an internet fraudulence, they believe that it was likely the cause of many self-harming and copycat groups. This, unfortunately, leaves children, most of whom suffer from mental illnesses, vulnerable and at risk of cyberbullying and online shaming. As of late 2017, reported involvement in Blue Whale seems to have been decreasing. However, internet safety organizations across the world have reacted by giving universal advice to parents and educators on how to prevent suicide, awareness of mental health, and online safety. Some countries, for example, the United States, have even combated the Blue Whale Game by replacing the negative tasks with positive tasks that value life and combat depression.

There have been a couple arrests of people who allegedly started the game, one of them being in 2016. In 2016, Philipp Budeikin, who was a twenty-one-year-old psychology student who was expelled from his university, said that he was the one that invented the game in 2013. His justification as to why he invented the game was to clean society by pushing people to suicide whom he felt as had no value. Although, he originally said he was innocent, and stated he was “just having fun,” Budeikin was detained and put in in Kresty Prison in St. Petersburg. In May 2016, he said he was guilty of “making at least sixteen teenage girls to commit suicide.” And in June 2017, Ilya Sidorov, who was a postman, was arrested in Moscow. He also was accused of fixing up a “Blue Whale” group to encourage children to self-harm and ultimately commit suicide. He claimed to have caused thirty-two children to join his group and follow his commands.

I find the Blue Whale Game totally and utterly unacceptable of society. Self-harm and suicide is not a joke, nor is it a game. Self-harm and suicide is a serious matter that should not be taken lightly. Self-harm and suicide are a result of serious mental illnesses that also should not be taken lightly, nor made fun of, nor are they a part of a game. Mental illnesses should not be stigmatized the way that they are. The stigma around mental illness is that it makes someone less of a person and that they are just seeking attention. The stigma around mental illnesses is not true. It does not make anyone less of a person, nor does it mean that they are seeking attention. The Blue Whale Game makes people with mental illnesses feel inferior to people without mental illnesses by blackmailing them on social media websites. They are also often pressured into playing the Blue Whale Game because “it’s what all the cool kids do.” The Blue Whale Game is not cool, nor is it acceptable of society.

In conclusion, the Blue Whale Game is the most dangerous challenge. It is a series of tasks assigned to players by administrators over a fifty-day period. And it leads to the demise and ultimately the suicide of innocent people that do have value. It is a game that plays with people’s emotions and self-worth. This “game” is totally and utterly unacceptable of society.