There’s a viral scare online. What should I do?

There’s a viral scare online. What should I do?

Reports of online scares or challenges encouraging harmful or suicidal behaviours can be alarming and confusing. Here we look at how you can speak to your child about scares and challenges, and how to respond if they have seen one.

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Stories and warnings often circulate online about online scares or suicide challenges which are alleged to have encouraged children to engage in harmful activities. Most have been found to be hoaxes, fake news or wildly exaggerated stories. 

Seeing or hearing about this content can be distressing for both children and parents.

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What to do if you’ve heard about a viral scare/suicide challenge? 

As a parent, there is a lot you can do to support your child. It’s important to help your child feel safe by staying calm.  

  • If your child has not yet heard about the scare, don’t bring it to their attention by naming it or trying to explain it. You don’t want to frighten them, and the last thing you want is for your child to feel curious and try to look for the scary content online. 
  • Instead, remind them that if they ever feel worried about something they see online - or hear about from friends - worries them they can come to you or another adult they trust for help.
  • Make sure they know if they do see something upsetting or worrying, they are in control. Tell them that they can report it to the platform they are using and close down their app or browser – and you can help them with this.
  • Use this as an opportunity to check that privacy settings are enabled on the apps they use and set parental controls to filter out inappropriate content.
  • Continue to have open and honest conversations with your child. Keep up-to-date with what they are doing online, celebrate the positives, and keep talking about how they can stay safe.

What to do if your child has seen, or been involved in, a viral scare or suicide challenge? 

  • Understandably you may be distressed or angry if you hear that your child has seen, or been involved in, a viral scare/suicide challenge. It’s important to stay calm, take their concerns seriously and reassure them that they have done the right thing by telling you.
  • Reassure them that it is not real and that it has been put online to frighten people. BBC Own It have made a video which explains this clearly for young people. 
  • Remind them that when they do see something upsetting or worrying that they are in control. They can report it to the platform they are using and close down their app or browser.
  • Talk to them about other sources of support – speaking to you will have helped, but further support from other sources could also help. There are lots of organisations out there can provide this.