The devil’s alphabet": the new and dangerous viral game

A new challenge spreading through social networks has caused social alarm.

The behavior of young people is often misunderstood by adults, because they tend to be more prone to take risks or practice risky and daring behaviors.

In recent months, the behavior of some teenagers has caused alarm in several countries as a result of the macabre game called "Blue Whale", which according to some media reports the cause of the 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 to the suicide of 130 young people".

But this dangerous phenomenon associated with the use of social networks and challenge chains is not the only game that is worrying the authorities, but a new dangerous fad seems to have burst with great force in the lives of children and adolescents, it is what is known as the "Devil's alphabet", a dangerous viral game that causes serious injuries to participants..

Alarm bells ringing in Spain: self-injury in adolescents

While the blue whale game has created a huge alert halfway around the world, the devil's alphabet game has come to light in Spain, specifically in the town of Mieres in Asturias, when the mother of an eight-year-old boy noticed that her son had two very deep and similar-looking wounds on his hands on both limbs. and of similar appearance on both limbs.

At first, the child avoided the mother's constant questions, concerned about the facts, and refused to answer what was the cause of these marks. However, after his mother's insistence, the child finally confessed to her that the origin of these wounds was to be found in a dangerous and painful game called the devil's alphabet.

The devil's alphabet: what does it consist of?

This game, in principle, does not endanger the life of the little ones; however, the Pain can be very intense. The game has a simple operation: the participant must recite the alphabet aloud, but instead of saying the corresponding letter, he/she must verbalize a word that begins with that letter. For example: now, donkey, rocket, chocolate, dentist... until reaching "z".

As the participant says the words, another person is in charge of scratching the outside of his hand with his fingernails. Depending on mental agility and speed in saying the words, a person can take more or less time to finish the alphabet. If a person gets stuck on a letter, he or she will receive more and more intensity in the scratching.. The wounds produced as a result of this act can be very deep and take several days to heal.

Also with sharp objects

Just when just a few weeks ago the media was talking about the Blue Whale case, this new game has come to public light. It might seem like a child's game, perhaps a little rougher, but the authorities are already talking about cases in which authorities are already talking about cases in which children have used sharp objects to scratch, for example scissors.. This has worried many parents, particularly in the region of Asturias where the first case in Spain has been reported.

According to the local newspaper "La Nueva España", the Association against School Bullying of Asturias (ACAE) has launched a message on social networks in which it states that "the rules of this game are sadistic. In some cases, it may 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 cautious and observe if there are students with this type of hand injuries.

The police have not yet received any complaints

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

As it is possible to read in some media such as the Spanish television "Cuatro", it was a friend of the mother of the Asturian boy, and not the authorities, who decided to alert the case through Facebook and the Association Against School Bullying -ACAE- (i.e. the same publication that asks teachers, parents to be attentive to detect the 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 in the future.The National Police, however, has communicated that it could act ex officio in the centers that present the problem if necessary.

The Blue Whale, the precedent

Just a few weeks ago we echoed one of the most talked about phenomena in recent months, the Blue Whale game. A game that has caused a great commotion because it has claimed several fatalities 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 jumping from a window in Kirishi (Russia). According to various sources, the total number of victims of this game is more than 130 people.

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

This game went viral and as reported by several media, 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 younger people, it has become a social phenomenon due to its presence in social networks.