The screaming headlines and horrifying stories about the suicides committed by teenagers who were members of the so-called "death groups", which are multiplying on the Internet at the speed of light, excited not only parents, but all concerned people. Some experts believe that the problem is greatly exaggerated: only a mentally ill person is capable of creating such a community, and only a teenager who is initially prone to suicide can join it …
SIMPLE RULES
"Quiet House", "Wake Me Up at 4:20", "50 Days Until …", "Quiet House", "Blue Whale", "Run or Die" - such games with death start small: you need to place them on your page marker hashtag - and wait for the "curator" to contact you. You don't have to wait long, and the first task can be quite innocent. For example, draw a blue whale, write with lipstick on your hand "Yes!" or "I'm in the game." Naturally, it is incredibly difficult to take a picture and send the picture to the “curator”, which is incredibly difficult to calculate: they do not give real names, they hide ip-addresses. In a word, not people - phantoms. Which are very convincing: in order to draw a doubting teenager into the "game", they can press, and encourage, and console. And now a child or a young man is on the hook, and the further, the more difficult it is to leave the group …
Each time the tasks become more sophisticated: usually there are 50 of them - which is probably connected with the book "50 days before my suicide", although there is no tragic ending in that story, on the contrary, the story ends on a positive note. However, these are conventions.
What's interesting going on in the game? From the point of view of an adequate person, nothing at all. There is a concrete brainwashing, violence against the youthful psyche. However, children do not feel any threat for a long time: what is special about setting the alarm clock at 4 in the morning and watching a terrible video or listening to music, even strange? It is at 4:20 that the “curators” assign such tasks to be completed. And it is no coincidence. At this time, the brain is the most receptive, the subconscious mind easily assimilates any information, so you can instill anything in a teenager … As a result, many children who have entered the "game" out of curiosity are already well prepared for the final task. Jump off the roof. Lie under the train. Hang yourself. And certainly in a live broadcast over the network … And if the child refuses, the "curator" usually promises to deal with his family:the effect of presence is worked out in detail, by the end of the "game" teenagers usually have no doubt that the "curator" is nearby and monitors every step.
There is also a "light version": "Run or Die". Drivers from different regions reported teenagers who stood quietly on the sidewalks - and at the last moment flew out onto the road, dangerously close to a car traveling at full speed. The brakes did not always work.
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Reboot
Why are children so easily "addicted" to deadly games? For the same reason that other peers cannot tear themselves away from virtual battles or the creation of fictional worlds. According to modern research, the brain of a person, especially a young one, is extremely plastic, computer games and the Internet have a profound effect on the psyche, change thinking and lifestyle, and cause a strong dependence on computer games and network manipulators. To complete the next task and move to a new level sometimes becomes not only an emotional, but also a physical need. Some young people are unable to eat or sleep until they complete the task. This also applies to "harmless" games, and the instructions of "curators" from the "death groups". According to scientists at the University of California, 5 hours of internet surfing is enough to reprogram the brain. Children lose touch with reality. However, for many representatives of the new generation, this connection was initially very conditional.
NEW FORMAT: HUMAN VIRTUAL
A one and a half year old baby with a tablet in his hands is a familiar picture, isn't it? Today, some children, almost from birth, live in a virtual world - and this is not a figure of speech: the Internet is closer and more understandable for them than the street and even more so the forest. Ordinary reality is boring, it is on the Internet that real life, friends, mentors …
By the way, according to psychologists, the entertainment of our childhood - "Cossack robbers", "war games", "Zarnitsy", hiking and even games on abandoned construction sites - fully satisfied the natural youthful need for risk. Yes, and in our childhood there were "difficult teenagers", but most of these adventures were enough. In addition, in children who grew up in the real world, the concept of the finiteness of life was previously formed, the instinct of self-preservation was not so muted (just for comparison: in survivors of wars and catastrophes, this instinct is especially developed). The worldview of today's adolescents is different: death does not seem fatal to them: after all, in the virtual world you can die and revive as much as you like, so at first many do not take the “death group” seriously. For them, this is really a game - in the ordinary world according to the laws of virtual reality. And when awareness comes, it is usually too late. Moreover, such problems are not discussed with adults.
Of course, not all adolescents who constantly "hang" on the Internet end up in the networks of manipulators. However, the risk of even accidentally starting the game is quite high. Firstly, because in adolescence, many become interested in the issues of life and death, many hypothetically speculate about suicide, imagine their own funeral. If you remember, even Tom Sawyer wanted to "die for fun" - to see how Aunt Polly suffered. But in the 19th century, there could be no talk of any "make-believe".
MONSTERS AT THE MONITOR
Some researchers draw clear parallels between "death groups" and sects of religious fanatics. In both cases there are “puppets” and “puppeteers”, there is a powerful psychological pressure, “brainwashing”, the imposition of false values, the idealization of death. Only virtual "gurus" have much more opportunities, and the risks are minimal. Another question: why do they need it? Why persuade young people to commit suicide? Everything is clear with the organizers of the sects. Of course, there were some mentally ill people among them, but most of the "messiahs" were absolutely adequate, extremely pragmatic cynics. Sell your property, give all your money to the community, renounce your family and die - this is an approximate algorithm for the actions of any sect. But what about a depressed teenager? Video with a suicide scene,which can be posted online? Even if it is sold, it is hardly possible to earn a lot of money on children's death, especially now, when such stories are in the public domain. So what do these "curators" need?
Most psychologists are sure that the administrators of such communities are not entirely sane. At the very least, they are notorious and try to assert themselves, manipulating children, breaking their psyche, playing with lives. At the same time, the "curators" go into a rage, realizing their impunity - after all, in ordinary life, they do not seem to exist. Many forensics and psychologists agree that these people are not much older than their victims - yesterday's teenagers who have not overcome the transitional crisis. This means that they grew up, like today's children, in the era of the Internet and computer games. It is possible that for some of them all these deaths are also “pretend”.
The police managed to find and detain the administrator of one of the first "death groups". It turned out to be 21-year-old Philip Budeikin, known online as Philip Lis. He and his “colleagues” organized eight deadly communities. By the way, experts recognized him as sane - that is, fully aware of his actions. But can the Fox be considered normal - in the usual, common human sense of the word? Hardly. Especially after he said that he wanted to cleanse the world "of bio-waste that does not deserve the right to life." Doesn't it remind anyone?
Alexandra SHAROVA