School district warns about dangerous 'Blue Whale Challenge' that may not exist
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The alleged "Blue Whale Challenge" instructs teens to perform a series of tasks. (iStock)
An Alabama school district sent a warning to parents about a supposedly “dangerous” online game — even though no injuries or deaths have been attributed to the alleged challenge.
The Baldwin County Public School System notified parents on Tuesday about the “Blue Whale Challenge,” saying the game can be played by downloading an app.
The challenge allegedly originated in Russia, according to the school district in a Facebook post.
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Over the course of 50 days, players complete tasks ranging from the benign — such as listening to a song — to as dangerous as cutting themselves, and finally suicide.
The school district also claimed the app hacks “personal information and cannot be deleted.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“The app originators then threaten the teenagers with harm to their families or releasing of personal information until they kill themselves,” the school district said in the Facebook post.
Despite the alarming notice, the school district said it had no evidence that any students were in danger from the game and that the warning was a precautionary measure. The challenge was brought to the attention of officials after two high school students notified faculty.
“Anything that could be a potential harm or danger to students we want to put that out so parents can be aware of it as well,” school system safety supervisor Anthony Sampson told news station WKRG.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This article first appeared on NYPost.com.