The rate at which the “Blue Whale” game is claiming so many lives is alarming. But the question we need to ask ourselves is this: why have we reached such a situation? What is the cause? Are our children so alone that they find comfort in such virtual games? In the past, children were more social and found joy in simple outdoor games. Now they seem to be busy lost and immersed in social media and busy making virtual friends. We need to ask ourselves where we are heading (“Dragged into the deep by the Blue Whale”, September 10)
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Poonam Pharasi,
Mumbai
It is shocking to know that an online game is trapping so many, traumatising them with deadly warnings into following instructions in utter secrecy and then even causing them to end their life. With the enormous increase in mobile density, this game is within the reach of youngsters in rural India too. News of a student from a poor family in the suburbs of Madurai becoming the next victim shows that we are underestimating the danger the online world poses. Is there no way to hack this deadly game and trace the “creators” before much harm befalls more youngsters?
B. Gurumurthy,
Madurai
In these disturbing times when children are being groomed by sexual predators though online messaging, and schoolchildren are being targeted by drug dealers using the virtual world, can we afford to ignore the looming threat? Our paranoia regarding the Internet is more than justified. Children succumbing to online manipulators are hapless victims and deserve protection. Suggestions that an online game has no inherent power to harm anyone are false. The human mind is as susceptible to injury as the rest of the body is. Healthy men have been driven insane by ‘white torture’ which involves zero physical injury. Virtual threats are very real indeed.
Maya Srivathsan,
Chennai
The dark and deadly shadow this game has cast on youngsters is frightening as promising lives are being cut short. The first step is to take down the game from the Internet. Parents, teachers, state officials and NGOs all have a role to play. At all educational institutions, placards and signboards warning about the dangers of the game must come up immediately. Local authorities must also sensitise students in the rural areas about the ill-effects of social media. Parents must be focussed when it comes to looking after their children.
M. Somasekhar Prasad,
Badvel, Andhra Pradesh
