It has come to the point that we should really keep an eye on the games that the younglings play—you’ll never know these might lead them to do crazier things.
In a report released last weekend, a 15-year-old boy killed himself after playing the popular game Doki Doki Literature Club, a horror-themed visual novel released in September 2017 by Team Savalto. Headteachers and administrators across the northern English city of Sunderland warned parents through the city council about the game and told them to prevent their children from playing it.
The Manchester coroner’s office which is responsible investigating the case also informed local authorizes all over the country about the dangers of this visual novel.
It was such a big deal that the head of the Hetton Primary School posted this on the school’s Facebook page: “I wanted to warn parents, especially those who might have older children, about this game. The internet is a great thing, but it is also a minefield.” The post was said to have been deleted as of June 24.
The Manchester coroner released a statement saying:
I believe the information is so concerning that this warrants my writing at this stage to make the local authorities aware of the issue so appropriate information can be disseminated.
This has arisen due to the fact I am conducting the inquest into the death of a 15-year-old-boy who died earlier this year. Evidence obtained suggested he had used an online game called Doki Doki.”
Sir Paul Ennals, chairman if the Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board said: “The Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board and its national and regional partners all work together to protect children and young people and promote their welfare.
Part of this is sharing concerns about issues and community safety messages on how they might be addressed.
On this occasion, it was to share information with schools about the death of a young person outside of our area, which the coroner at the inquest felt it was relevant to share with colleagues across the country.
Although there was already a disclaimer in the beginning that the game contains such themes not suitable for children, concerned citizens claim that kids will tend to ignore this warning due to the irresistible appeal of the cute characters. Parents have feared that another similar incident might happen again due to the game’s dark themes. No other information was released into other factors that might have caused the boy to end his life.
Source: Sunderland Echo
