Police issues suggestions for schools, asking teachers to sensitise students

Mumbai: In the wake of a spate of online games such as the Blue Whale Game, the Salt and Ice challenge and Cinnamon challenge causing bodily harm to netizens, the police has started spreading awareness among children and teenagers via sending suggestions to schools.

The police, which has implored children not to fall into the web of life-threatening games, has also appealed to parents to talk freely with their young ones about the dangers of such games and sensitise them about the dangers involved.

Brijesh Singh, inspector general of police (cyber), told The Asian Age, “The first thing in order to stop the participation of teenagers in such games is for parents to identify the likely signs of harm and open a dialogue with their children to generate awareness. Parents are also suggested to keep in touch with the child’s peer group as they are the first ones to notice any behavioural changes.”

The police has asked parents to monitor their children’s Internet activities. The police also said that victims of these deadly games are either battling depression or are in the dire need of attention, which pushes them to play these games in order to get an adrenaline rush. When The Asian Age spoke to a psychologist, Devika Kotibhaskar, she said, “The actions that endanger a person’s life are usually a result of attention seeking. This works in a similar way where an infant starts crying loudly to get his work done. Only in this situation, the hue and cry of the teenage or adult person falls on deaf ears, and that results in participation in such deadly games.”