Schools in the city gear up to handle Blue Whale menace

Team LT

The deadly Blue Whale game seems to be making several kids all over the world addicted to it, including in Lucknow. Family members of local Class VIII student Aditya Vardhan Singh, 14, claimed that the Blue Whale challenge was behind his suicide. But Aditya’s is not a stray case. Several cases of teenagers committing suicide after taking up the game’s challenges have been reported in the country.
Now, in order to fight the Blue Whale menace, the district inspector of schools (DIoS) on Sunday banned the use of smartphones in schools and also instructed schools to keep a close eye on students’ behaviour. After the directive, and with the state education department also banning the use of smartphones by students in all schools across UP, schools in the city say they are leaving no stone unturned to ensure the safety of their students.
Among them is

Shalini Srivastava

, senior coordinator at

Delhi Public School Gomti Nagar

branch, who caught a student playing the deadly game. "We suspected a boy from Class VI to be playing the Blue Whale game. We were able to identify that because we noticed a sudden change in his behaviour. The boy used to be quite naughty in class. However, for the past few days, we found him to be quite dull. When we did several counselling sessions with the boy, we got to know that he was addicted to the Blue Whale game. We immediately informed his parents and called them to the school. On enquiry, his mother told us that for the past few weeks, her son would remain glued to her mobile phone and even demanded a personal one for himself," says she.

Schools take a safe route
Amita (name changed), a primary school teacher at a private school in the city, who caught a Class IV student making a blue whale on his hand, says, "I caught a student in my class trying to draw a blue whale on his wrist. I immediately called the nurse as he was bleeding, and later, his parents were also called. He confessed that he had tried this many times earlier. He also told me about the various challenges that he completed. Later, his parents admitted that they have not been paying proper attention of late towards his activities and behaviour."
In fact,

Lipika Kale

, vice principal of City Montessori School, Aliganj branch, has taken a special meeting with the supervisory staff to discuss keeping a close eye on the students. After the DIoS’ directive on Sunday, we have held a special meeting with the in-charges, who have in turn asked the teachers to keep a check on the students for signs of playing the Blue Whale game. Even though we are burdened with a lot of school work, on humanitarian grounds, it is our responsibility to see that every child is safe," she says. The founder of the school says that he is taking extra measures to keep the kids in his school safe. "We already have a counselling cell in each of our branches and after the directive, we have asked our counsellors to be more active, keep a close watch on the kids and report in case there is any suspicious activity among the children," says Jagdish Gandhi, the founder of CMS.
Richa Sharma, a teacher in St. Joseph School in Thakurganj, was instructed to be attentive during the classes and observe the reactions of the children. "In a meeting with the principal, we were told to check the hands of the students daily and observe their behaviour in class. There are strict rules governing even the use of scissors during the crafts period in the school,” says Richa, adding, “I don’t understand why parents give smartphones to their kids at an early age. Today, a two-year-old is also a game addict. When those learning games lead towards games like Blue Whale, you never know. That’s why parents should be strict with their kids regarding the use of smartphones."
Aarti Nigam, principal of Delhi Public School, Gomti Nagar branch, says, "We have a counsellor in our school who regularly speaks to the children regarding the pros and cons of the use of internet. Since we cannot openly check for the Blue Whale mark on students’ hands, as this will make them more scared, we are doing that by asking them to show us their nails daily."

Parents cautious as well
Siddhika Bajpai, the mother of a 12-year-old student, shares, “I got a new cell phone for my son, Vinay, on his birthday a few weeks back. Because he was more busy with games and less with his studies, I had to take the phone back. Since the Blue Whale reports, I give him the phone for only an hour to play. During that time period also, I keep an eye on what he is doing on the phone and sometimes, I check the phone also because smartphone ke zamane mein minimise kar ke kuch bhi khol lo, pata thodi lagta hai.”

What have schools to do with the Blue Whale game?
However, Aashrita Dass, principal, La Martinere Girls’ College, feels that the schools should be kept out of the blame ‘game’. "Schools have nothing to do with this Blue Whale game. Why should we keep a check on the students and whether they are playing this game or not? This is the parents’ responsibility. While the parents have only one or two kids to look after, we have so many to keep a check on. As far as bringing the phone to school is concerned, we have been checking for this every day for several years. Plus, we have told the teachers to look for any child who is suddenly more quiet or depressed. But that we always do, irrespective of this Blue Whale game," she says.
Even

Melvyn Saldanha

, principal, Cathedral Senior Secondary School, agrees with Aashrita as he says, "The schools are been unnecessarily held responsible for this issue. It’s the parents who give the smartphones and the free internet access to the kids, not the school, and later the school is held responsible for the mishap. Like other websites, the government should ban the websites for the Blue Whale game too. We can only report any misbehaviour of the child to the parents. Otherwise, it is the parents’ duty to give proper time to their kids so that they don’t need to pass their time using cell phones."
— Akash.Wadhwa@timesgroup.com, Abhishek.Shukla2@timesgroup.com, Adnaan Rizvi and Prachi Arya