Young people’s behaviour is often misunderstood by adults, because they are often more likely to take risks or practice risky and daring behaviour.

In the last few months, the behaviour of some adolescents set off alarm bells in several countries as a result of the macabre game called “Blue Whale”, which according to some media is said to have been the cause of death of at least 130 young people .

  • If you want to know more about this dangerous phenomenon, you can read our article: “A macabre Russian game, ‘Blue Whale’, has led 130 young people to suicide”

But this dangerous phenomenon associated with the use of social networks and chains of challenges is not the only game that is worrying the authorities, but a new dangerous fashion seems to have burst with great force into the lives of children and adolescents, is what is known as the “Devil’s Alphabet”, a dangerous viral game that causes serious injuries to participants .

Voice of alarm in Spain: self-harm in adolescents

Although the game of the blue whale has created a great alert in half the world, the game of the devil’s alphabet has become known in Spain, specifically in the village of Mieres in Asturias, when the mother of an eight-year-old boy noticed that her son had two wounds on his hands that were very deep and similar in appearance on both limbs.

At first, the child avoided the constant questions of the mother, who was worried about the facts, and he refused to answer what was the cause of the marks. However, at his mother’s insistence, the child ended up confessing to her that the origin of these wounds was a dangerous and painful game called the devil’s alphabet.

The devil’s alphabet: what is it?

This game does not, in principle, endanger the lives of the little ones; however, the pain can be very intense. The game has a simple operation, since the participant must recite the alphabet aloud, but instead of saying the corresponding letter, he must verbalize a word that begins with that letter. For example: now, donkey, rocket, chocolate, dentist … so on until you reach the “z”.

As the participant says the words, another person scratches the outside of his hand with his nails. Depending on the mental agility and speed with which the words are said, it may take a person longer or shorter time to finish the alphabet. In the case of getting stuck with some letters, the scratching will become more and more intense . The wounds that are produced as a result of this act can be very deep and take several days to heal.

Also with sharp objects

Just when the Blue Whale case was being talked about in the media just a few weeks ago, this new game has come to light. It might seem to be child’s play, perhaps a little more abrupt; however, the authorities are already talking about cases in which children have used sharp objects to scratch, for example, scissors . This has concerned many parents, specifically in the region of Asturias where the first case in Spain has been known.

According to the local newspaper “La Nueva España”, the Association against School Bullying in Asturias (ACAE) has launched a message through social networks in which it states that “the rules of this game are sadistic. In some cases, it can happen that a person who leads the group and chooses the victims to become part of a club or group”. The same association states that it does not want to create alarm, but teachers should be careful and observe whether there are students with this type of hand injury.

The police have not received any reports yet

Since the information circulating about this game is still recent, some individuals doubt its credibility.

As you can read in some media such as the Spanish television “Cuatro”, it was a friend of the Asturian boy’s mother, and not the authorities, who decided to alert the case through Facebook and the Association Against School Bullying -ACAE- (that is, the same publication that asks teachers, parents to be on the lookout for signs of this disturbing game). In fact, according to the National Police, it has not yet received any complaint , although it has communicated that it could act ex officio in the schools that present the problem if necessary.

The Blue Whale, the precedent

Just a few weeks ago we were echoing one of the most talked about phenomena of the last few months, the game of the Blue Whale. A game has caused a great deal of commotion because it has claimed several lives due to suicides . One of them was a girl as young as 10 years old who was taken to the hospital for concussion and other injuries after throwing herself out of a window in Kirishi (Russia). According to several sources, the total number of victims of this game is more than 130 people.

The first cases of this phenomenon, which would later become a global one, occurred on the territory of Russia and in some Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The game consists of the participants having to go through different tests (for example, tattooing a blue whale with a knife or jumping into the air from great heights) that increase its danger and seriousness. In total, there are more than 50 tests, the last of which is suicide.

This game went viral and according to various media reports, the curators use different hashtags in Russian that translated mean: “blue whale”, “sea of whales”, “I’m in the game”, “wake up at 4:20”, among many others. Among the youngest, it has become a social phenomenon because of its presence in social networks.