New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the chief secretaries of the states to make all schools across the country aware of the danger of Blue Whale and similar games.
It said children should be made aware of the “beauty of life” and the dangers posed by such games.
A three-judge bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud gave this direction while disposing of writ petitions seeking ban on this dangerous game which traps students to commit suicide.
The bench said “parental care, concern, love, affection, instilling a sense of optimism in children will keep them away from searching for these games. It’s not just Blue Whale, which is a threat to young minds, but the availability of other equally violent games online. the beauty of life is not to meet the beauty of death, but to keep death away.” In its order, the bench said, “There may be states where Blue Whale may not pose a problem, but nevertheless, children should be made aware that these games should be “compulsorily avoided.” Awareness campaigns for children should not focus solely on the games but primarily on the dignity and beauty of life.”
The bench also directed Union human resources development ministry to inform all schools about the ill-effects of such games. The court considered the report of a committee set up by the Centre to enquire into the number of suicides and passed this order. On October 27, the court had asked Doordarshan to produce a 10-minute educational show on the perils of virtual dare games. On Monday, attorney-general K.K. Venugopal said the interim report indicated that it could not link any involvement of the game in any of the reported incidents.
