A new social media trend is tempting teens via Facebook that eggs them to disappear for 12-72 hours.
They are not allowed to contact their families and as you can imagine, parents are horrified.
The name of the game?
“Game 72” is the official title and local authorities are stunned by its popularity.
“It’s beyond foolish,” police have said. Teens who do actively participate in the game ultimately invite loads of stress into their lives and also, give them another reason to shun social media.
But according to others, the Game of 72 seems to be an overreaction.
“We never issued a warning about the game as has been reported,” a spokesman for the Vancouver Police Department, Constable Brian Montague, shared with Mic in an email. “We responded to questions about it from media and unfortunately they turned it into a warning from police.”
The department was recently featured in a news story regarding the game, including an interview with an online awareness expert.
“The game’s popularity shows that parents need to stay up to the minute on their kids’ computer habits,” the story went on to say.
Yet, Montague shared with the news outlet how the department has yet to discover any incidences of the game in Vancouver.
“I am not even aware of any confirmed examples in Canada,” he said.
Allegedly, the game originated in France.
After a 13-year-old girl by the name of Emma went missing for three days, she was eventually found safe at her family’s house yet she would not tell police where she had disappeared to.
The only information she gave?
You guessed it.
The fact that she participated in the Game of 72, the Daily Mail reported.
Sammy and Siobhan Clarke, two British teens, also created tension this past week after their disappearance was also linked to the challenge.
But later, an Essex Police spokesman later told the Braintree and Witham Times, “There is nothing to suggest any links or connections to [the Game of 72].
Another reason why police are scratching their head? It seems the evidence behind teens actually participating is hard to come by..
“The Facebook challenge, meanwhile, has left authorities baffled — not least because they’ve been unable to actually find examples of it online. Rather, they’ve uncovered plenty of panicked postings from parents who are eager to warn each other about the game,” a local French news outlet, the Local, reported.
And while there are plenty of parent’s posting about the game on Twitter and Facebook — there is not much else backing up the popularity of the game.
The Revere Police Department of Massachusetts put out the following warning via Facebook for parents to be aware of the game:
“Parents need to be aware of a new ‘game’ traveling around social media involving children daring each other to vanish for 72 hours. Originating in France – teens are sending private messages to each other via Social Media, challenging them to disappear without any contact to anyone for 72 hours. #Gameof72″
A spokeswoman for the police department, Lt. Amy O’Hara shared with the Mic via email the following:
“We just put that out for informational purposes. We have not had any incidents in Revere.”
O’Hara added that the department was not aware of any other incidents in the surrounding areas either.
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