Is the Blue Whale App a whale of a tale or is it true?
The internet is buzzing about a game, app, or challenge called Blue Whale. This app apparently encourages children over 50 days to do self-harm (like cutting) and then the game concludes with suicide.
Horrifying like a Criminal Minds episode.
Questions have arisen, is this true, proven?
According to Snopes this story is unproven. Yet, within the Snopes article there does appear to be a link between Blue Whale and suicides in Russia and Central Asia.
Whether or not Blue Whale is just a tale perhaps doesn’t matter.
What matters is our kids– their lives, their mental health.
Perhaps this is an opportunity, a splash of cold water to wake us up. Parents, we need to talk about depression with our young people. Suicide is 2nd in the leading causes of death, just after accidents with homicide coming in third for young people.
We need to talk with our kids because if we do not, other voices will.
The Netflix show 13 Reasons Why, glorifies suicide. Here’s what an article from 2nd Wind ( a suicide prevention group) says about the show:
“There is a new series on Netflix called 13 Reasons Why that concerns many of us who are passionate about saving lives of kids at risk for suicide. Briefly, it is based on a novel of the same name about a high school student who dies by suicide and leaves 13 tapes on why she died. “
Professionals have varied opinions on how to handle this show. Some say watch it. Others say don’t. I At the very least this needs to be discussed rather than ignored. Even if your kids are not watching 13 Reasons Why it, it is highly probable they have heard of it.
Here are six suicide warning signs for parents to watch for (this is not an all inclusive list):
- Suicide warning signs
- Preoccupation with death
- Threats to kill oneself or expressing the wish that he or she was dead.
- Poor hygiene or change in appearance
- Extreme behavioral changes including moving from extremely sad to very happy
- Giving away precious items
Here are some factors that increase risk (this is not an all inclusive list)
