BLUE WHALE: THE HORROR GAME INVOLVING TEENAGERS

When we think of adolescence, we are probably reminded of that moment in which our hormones prevailed and emotions were king: the first falls in love, the first physical reactions, the first uncertainties about the appearance, but also the first disappointments, the discovery of sadness, the inability to look outward. To shelter ourselves we relied on friends, on those soul (and hormone) twins who could understand us. And the lucky ones also referred to their parents.
Today social networks have taken the place of some fundamental relationships and, if on the one hand they have opened us to new acquaintances, on the other they conceal enormous dangers that are absolutely out of control. These dangers, hidden behind false identities, have given life among many things , to the most terrifying a parent could imagine: the game of Blue whale.

Blue whale is the game of horror

The Blue whale was born in Russia a few years ago on Vkontakte, the equivalent social network of Facebook. The name takes spit from the tragic fate of some blue whales, who swim to the shore and let themselves die on the beach.
It is a game, if we can call it that, based on a challenge that pits children aged 10 to 17 against each other.

How does it work? The "administrators or curators" of the game contact the kids on the social network, luring and manipulating them psychologically, to truly frightening levels. How does this game work? Each child relies on a tutor who will follow him for 50 days, communicating the rule to follow every day, in an "escalation of violence and self-harm that would scare even the most fearless. The final goal of the challenge? Suicide. At the end of this path, the lured boy will have the task of climbing the highest building in the city and throwing himself underneath. We can all imagine the result.

In Russia, to date, about 157 adolescents have died This phenomenon has shocked the community and destroyed many families but to date has led to the arrest of Philipp Budeikin, a former psychology student believed to be one of the founders of this horror movement created for to cleanse society of those whom he himself did not consider worthy to live. Just the thought of it makes us shiver.

The rules of the Blue whale

To participate in the Blue whale game you have to face 50 days of challenges, in each of which the participants will be dictated a rule or a task to perform in order not to continue. The rules provide for acts of violence and physical and psychological self-harm, let's see just a few, the less gruesome:

-listening to depressing music
- wake up at 4 am to watch horror movies
- submit to videos of suicides and violence that the tutors themselves send to the participant
- do physical harm
- isolate yourself and do not talk to anyone about it

The final result of this perverse game is a psychological manipulation that induces serene and dynamic boys to close themselves in a universe made of fears and anguish without fear of suicide. It turned out later, with the arrest of Budeiki that, in order to bring the boys to complete the path of horrors and tragic ends, they were often threatened with torture against the family, which is why in the end there was no holding back. C " it is still a social component and psychological dynamics: in Russia the phenomenon has gone viral and many kids have mythologized the participants, living them as real heroes.

What does the Blue whale make us think of

If we put aside the terrifying feeling of helplessness and fear that the Blue whale arouses at the mere thought, the issues that emerge are two: on the one hand we find a generation of children who are fragile and at the mercy of the absence of important values such as the immeasurable and the only value of life; on the other hand, we have the duty to pass on to our children, our brothers, the youngest we meet on our way that, even when everything seems impossible and out of control, we are never alone. There will always be someone ready to offer them a hand, and to tell him that together we can do it.