Blue whale challenge: Assam police issues advisory to parents after boy injures self to finish game

Representative Image[/caption]The advisory came a day after the police in Assam's capital town unearthed a case suspected to have been related with the fatal addiction of the online game Blue Whale, which has killed many across the globe.According to police, the Class X student was admitted to the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital on Tuesday night after he was injured while allegedly trying to complete the final stage of the controversial online game.Teachers of the boy had alerted the parents after observing some changes in his behaviour and noticing a picture of a whale carved on his arm."Recently, a few online games have become popular among youth who are glued to their mobiles, computers and are addicted to excessive video gaming. Some such harmful games, like 'Blue Whale', 'A Silent House', 'Sea of Whales', 'Wake Me Up at 4:20 AM' etc., involve emotional and psychological conditioning of the players."The administrators of these games assign some challenges to the participants like watching horror movies, self harming, poking a needle to the arm or leg, standing on a bridge or roof, listening to music, carving fish sign on the forearm, etc.," said the police advisory, adding that the final task assigned was to commit suicide or homicide."The victims are asked to share the photographs of completion of these tasks in social media, like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, SnapChat etc.," police said.Saying that most of these cases normally involve teenagers between 13 and 19 years of age, Assam Police have advised all parents, teachers, guardians and the members of civil society to be vigilant about such cases."The parents and elders in the family are advised to monitor and regulate the online surfing activity of their minor children. Certain 'Parent Monitoring' apps or software available via internet may be used to keep a check on the surfing or download history by children. Teachers and civil society are appealed to encourage open discussion about cyber and social media awareness among children," it said.