Suicide Challenge: Blue Whale | Momo

The dangers our kids face nowadays are similar in many ways to the ones we faced while growing up.  But the internet and social media have introduced new kinds of dangers, many of which, you are now aware of. Here on awareness, we have addressed the issue of suicide from the bullying perspective, but now it's time we change our lens and view it from the social media challenge perspective. 

As adults there are few things that scare us more than the unknown, certainty provides a semblance of safety. When you couple the unknowns of the internet with the lack of understanding of how social media influences our kids, what you get is hyperbole of such proportions, that it becomes an urban legend. 

What you get are a series of stories/ anecdotes, that over time, propagate through society and morphing as they make their way through servers on continents around the world, cementing a place in social lore. 

On today's episode, we are going to unravel the truths and myths about the blue whale and Momo challenges and why this is a symptom of something that is permeating through our society. Should you be concerned?

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Website: https://www.awarenesspodcast.com

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Episode Sources:

http://www.snopes.com/blue-whale-game-suicides-russia/

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/blue-whale-game-suicides-russia/

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-46505722 

https://www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2016/05/16/68604-gruppy-smerti-18 

https://meduza.io/feature/2016/05/17/pyat-glavnyh-voprosov-k-materialu-novoy-gazety-o-podrostkovyh-suitsidah

https://qz.com/776683/online-parenting-parents-in-russia-are-blaming-the-internet-for-spiking-the-rate-of-children-suicide/

https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/family-says-teens-suicide-result-of-internet-challenge

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4709894/Blue-Whale-suicide-game-ringleader-jailed-Russia.html

https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/02/26/momo-challenge-suicide-game/

https://web.archive.org/web/20180821003815/http://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/police-suspect-12-year-old-girls-suicide-linked-to-whatsapp-terror-game-momo.phtml

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jp/ryosukekamba/momo

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/06/national/social-issues/japanese-artist-behind-ghastly-creature-viral-momo-challenge-baffled-disturbing-hoax/#.XIxzVxNKjUI

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/momo-challenge

https://inews.co.uk/opinion/momo-challenge-game-deaths-suicide-moral-panic/

https://gulfnews.com/uae/momo-and-blue-whale-internet-games-are-urban-myths-say-experts-1.62513404

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZr1gAKlVww&t=921s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10xSviY0I54&t=8s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=122&v=eZiV49EDcg0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=c5QNaDG_5lY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=280&v=0jLuF0OQZ-g&bpctr=1552698441

Thanks:

Thanks to Shane Yoder and his team at puttheminasong.com for the theme song, and thanks to my family for allowing me to do my part to help raise awareness.

Intro Music:

Altered Space - Nuform

Closing Music:

And All Is Embers (Ambient) - Adam Fielding