A UK mum has called out a disturbing new Snapchat game called ‘Letter X’ that is leading to online bullying among teens. The ‘game’ involves targeting a single victim for a vicious group bullying session, that mum Rachaele Hambleton, 34, calls “horrific”.
It begins when a Snapchat user sends someone the letter X and that person then has to come back with the name of one person who then becomes the target. Hambleton says it encourages children to post the “most vile abuse imaginable”.
Radio host Yumi Stynes talks about checking her teenage daughter’s smart phones. Post continues…
The mum first became aware of the game when her daughter Betsy, 12, saw it happening and refused to participate, only to become a Letter X target herself.
Snapchat is a popular mobile phone app that allows users to send videos, pictures and messages, all of which then disappear after ten seconds. This also means all evidence of bullying disappears with it/
Hambleton spoke to UK TV show This Morning on ITV and urged parents to stop their children from using Snapchat. She also posted on the official Facebook page for her blog Part-Time Working Mummy and shared her daughter’s experience.
Hambleton wrote:
Dear Betsy
This morning you came into the kitchen and showed me something that had left you upset and confused and I’ve not been able to stop thinking about it all day.
People you know, including your friends have begun a new online ‘game’. It consists of sending someone the letter ‘X’. That person then sends you back a name of someone you all know…you then write the most horrific things you can think of about that person – about their weight, their appearance, their personality…the more horrid the comments the better. It then gets posted anonymously, but publicly, upon snapchat stories for everyone to see & share.
Top Comments
Why would a 12 year old have Snapchat?
While deleting apps or logging out or simply not using online forums where you are being bullied, harassed or trolled is an immediate solution I am concerned about this epidemic of bullying and nasty, vicious behavior. It extends beyond the internet. These are real people being vicious. These are real people being targeted. What is this saying about the condition of humanity when there is so much hatred and abuse that our freedom to use the internet is impeded. Delete this app or account, avoid that social forum, protect yourself because we can't hold bullies accountable for their antisocial and abusive behavior. And what do these bullies or internet trolls learn? I can do whatever I want and get away with it ROFL. Internet is an amazing opportunity to connect with anyone around the world instantly. What amazing freedom this could present. But no, we do have to restrict it because of these abusive people getting away with their abusive behavior. There must be a better solution to this problem. It starts with holding bullies and online trolls accountable in some way. Maybe we could restrict or ban them in some way from having access to so many people online. Yes, there are moderators for many forums and that's a start. Maybe we need a cultural shift, stop putting the onus squarely on the victims shoulders and start backing them up and sending a clear message: Bullying is not acceptable online, at school, at work, anywhere at all.