Letter X Game
What is it?
The Letter X game is an online bullying game using the social app Snapchat.
Snapchat is a smartphone application that allows instant messaging of photos, videos, drawings and messages between users, which then delete themselves after being read. Users can also compile a ‘Story’, a chronological sequence of photos that can be viewed for 24 hours before they are deleted.
In the Letter X Game, one person sends another user the letter X, that second person then types a third person’s name. The game is to think of the most horrid thing you can about the chosen victim.
What are the risks?
Children can be chosen at random to be victims or this could be the continuation of in-school bullying. Whichever it is, the results can be very frightening for a young person as lots of other people they know (or don’t know) take it in turns to say the most horrible thing they can about them, the way they look or act.
Apply this to a teenager who is already self-conscious, worried about fitting in with their peers, going through puberty and the physical changes that brings, then you have got a cause for concern.
On top of that, if a young person feels insecure, anxious or depressed, they may choose to focus on those comments, rather than letting it go as most others would.
| Do’s
Ask your child if they’ve come across the Letter X game and have an open conversation.
Make sure your child knows that you will never be angry with them and that you are there for them to turn to when they experience problems.
Be aware of what social media apps your child uses, warn them of the dangers of Snapchat, so they learn to be cautious. |
Don’ts
Forget to talk to your teenager about ways you walk away from things that irritate you. Tell them the ways you occupy your mind to stop you focussing on the negatives. |
