AMERICA/MEXICO - Mgr. Torres condemns the blue Whale "game" on the internet that leads young people to suicide

Tuesday, 9 May 2017 violence   the internet   youth  

Ciudad Juarez (Agenzia Fides) - "The Blue Whale game is to be condemned, it is a terrible epidemic, it is reprehensible", said the Bishop of Ciudad Juarez, Jose Guadalupe Torres Campos, asking parents to be careful when their children use the internet and to monitor them in order to avoid falling into this terrible "game" that leads to tragic consequences.
"Blue Whale" is in fact the title of the new "game" that is causing many victims among adolescents. When the player signs up for the game, she or he is assigned an administrator who provides them with a daily task to complete for 50 days, of which they must send photographic proof of completion and on the 50th and final day, they are asked to kill themselves.
Apparently the independent Russian newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, first claimed the existence of “death groups” on Russia’s most popular social media network, VKontakte (also known as VK), that were ensnaring and inciting young teens into committing suicide. Over time, the game has spread to other Countries such as Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia and Uruguay.
The note sent to Fides by Ciudad Juarez denounces that only in the past few weeks the deadly game has been linked to at least a dozen suicides among adolescents in Chihuahua and other Mexican regions. For this reason, in his homily Mgr. Torres Campos stressed on Sunday that it is necessary to protect adolescents.
Mgr. Torres Campos appealed to the attention of parents and public opinion after a 15-year-old teenager was urgently hospitalized at Chihuahua Parral Hospital after a suicide attempt last week apparently linked to the Blue Whale game. According to Mexican press reports, there were 103 suicides in Ciudad Juarez in 2015, 318 last year alone. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 09/05/2017)






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