Blue Whale Challenge: What is it, what it is not? Many things but it is not a game

The Blue Whale Game is spreading across the UK.

The sickening viral challenge hopes to push vulnerable youngsters into taking their own lives.

Blue Whale has already been linked to some 130 deaths in Russia – and now the horrifying viral challenge has purportedly come to the UK.

There are hundreds of posts related to the sick trend on social media.

The Blue Whale Game sees youngsters assigned daily tasks by a group administrator, which they have 50 days to complete.

These tasks can include some trivial (watching a horror movie, waking up in the early hours) to the downright horrifying.

Blue Whale is so named because of the way whales will sometimes beach themselves and then die.

Social media is filled with posts warning people against taking part in the The Blue Whale Game
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Social media is filled with posts warning people against taking part in the The Blue Whale Game

As the tasks become more extreme over the 50 day period, some group administrators have encouraged members to self-harm – with some scoring the shape of a whale into the skin on their forearm.

On the 50th day, group members are purportedly encourage to take their own lives.

Children should remember not to follow the crowd or feel pressure to do anything that makes them feel uncomfortable, the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) said in a statement.

A spokesperson said: "Children can find it difficult to stand up to peer pressure but they must know it’s perfectly okay to refuse to take part in crazes that make them feel unsafe or scared.

"Parents should talk with their children and emphasise that they can make their own choices and discuss ways of how to say no.

"Reassuring a child that they can still be accepted even if they don’t go along with the crowd will help stop them doing something that could hurt them or make them uncomfortable."