Manpreet Sahans, the victim of the morbid and dangerous 'Blue Whale Game' was only 14. Reports suggest that the game doesn't discriminate according to age, the younger they are, the more vulnerable they are. According to reports, teens meet these people by chance, lurking in chat rooms and other social platforms. Shocking? Well, there are some teens who have heard of the game and are looking for ways to get in touch with these predators!
One such child, Nitin (name changed) a pre-teen, says he put in a lot of effort to get in touch with the Blue Whale administrators and claims he finally has. When he was warned about the hoax game and its dangers, Nitin says, "I don't like my life. I have the freedom to do whatever I want with my life." There could be 100s of Nitins in the country.
Yes, online security is truly the utmost need of the hour. Cutting all access to such dangers especially from children has to be topmost priority. But what about the larger picture? Suicides are an epidemic, in India, almost 10,000 students committed suicide, according to the latest NCRB report. The two main causes? Exam pressure and failure in love.
Even though many of us believe that suicide is usually a split-second decision and the result of an ongoing problem, psychologists say that the problem starts much earlier. It starts during childhood. "The problem lies in the upbringing and the conditioning that this generation goes through. Youngsters are given everything that they ask for. Parents are busy, so they give their children whatever they demand. They make their lives so easy, so children never learn to value anything, including life," explained Johnson Thomas, Director of AASRA, a suicide helpline.
Psychologists agree that this generation is used to getting what they want and so they have a sense of entitlement - they want instant feedback, instant approval, instant likes, instant retweets- instant gratification. "They don't know how to take a no, they can't handle it and they lose control of themselves," said Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar, Founder, SNEHA, a suicide helpline.
Johnson Thomas, Director, AASRA
Since they grow up getting everything they demand, students these days are simply not brought up to handle real life, Thomas says. "Parents feel like they are protecting their children and keeping them happy by providing them with everything but that doesn't help the child at all. Children need to develop a sense of resilience, that's how they learn to take on life," he added.
Should schools do more to help students? "Well, there's not much that they can do. Ultimately it's the parents' responsibility to inculcate these qualities in their kids, especially the value for life, " Thomas said."If you notice, committing suicide because of exam pressure or love failures is something that happens only In India and a few other Asian countries. It's because we make such a big deal about exams. Even relationships; when they fail, it becomes a huge shame, something we are not equipped to handle," Vijayakumar said.
Shame and rejection are two things that youngsters face and are unable to handle. "Recently a girl told me she felt suicidal because she got only three likes on a very nice picture she had put up, she was worried that her other friends got more likes. This is a result of the need for instant gratification. Life is full of ups and downs, career-wise and in life, hearing a no, being rejected, getting turned down, this is all part of life but this generation doesn't seem to get it at all," Vijayakumar said.
