In recent years, a huge number of dangerous games for teenagers and the so-called death groups in social networks have appeared on the network. For example, last year the whole country was talking about the “Blue Whale”, the participant of which must perform ridiculous and terrible tasks – to walk along the edge of the roof or cross the road in front of a car moving at high speed.
And then a new attack appeared. Western media warn parents that on the Internet, children run the risk of finding something fun called the 48-hour challenge. It was launched on the social network Facebook, and this is what it is: a child who has reached the age of 14 is given the task of running away from home without warning and hiding from their parents for two days. During this time, the participants in the game must accumulate as many points as possible, and they are awarded if, for example, the runner’s parents reported to the police or connected a search squad to the case. The more there are references to the missing child on the Internet, the cooler he will be in the eyes of other participants in the 48-Hour Challenge game.
A similar game called Game-72 was popular in the West in 2015. Her conditions were the same, only the teenagers left the house for as much as 72 hours, or even more. How many parents shed tears then in search of their children, how many nerves they spent! This is what the mother of one of the children in the UK who ran away from home under the influence of this game recalls:
“He was found 55 hours later in a completely different town! By that time, I already thought that he was raped and dead. But when he was brought home and saw the police and a lot of concerned citizens, he was not in the least scared and did not feel remorse. On the contrary, he even found it funny! “
At the same time, parents were warned that Facebook will never be able to one hundred percent protect young users from this kind of negativity. … All that moms and dads can do is to devote as much time as possible to their children. After all, excessive immersion in virtual life comes from a lack of attention from the parents. Be aware of who your child is spending time with and what their hobbies are. It’s good if you are friends on social networks, otherwise you can cheat and try to make friends with your child on the Internet under someone else’s nickname.
And remember: if a teenager does disappear, you need to go to the police as soon as possible. Even if he is really into the game hiding somewhere, he may be in danger.