If you have children, you've probably heard of Roblox; it's like Youtube but for video games. Anyone can post games built on the system.
One of these games, called Forsaken, features a cult that worships the Spawn, which is essentially the respawn tile where your character reappears in Roblox if it dies in the game. The characters believe the Spawn will grant a second life when you die.
It's a tongue-in-cheek storyline, but according to Game the Media, back in May, the game made a leap from not-so-great entertainment to real danger.
By mid-May, dedicated Spawnism Discord servers were encouraging members — often vulnerable teens — to perform disturbing 'rituals.' Reports emerged of self-harm: carving the Spawn symbol into skin as a 'blood offering,' sharing graphic images, and even rumors of autocannibalism. On TikTok, 'blood-sacrifice tutorials' racked up millions of views, blurring the line between meme and method.
What started as dark humor quickly devolved into real danger, with groups promoting and normalizing self-harm 'in the name of Spawnism.'
One lie these cult leaders are spreading is that the Spawn needs a blood sacrifice to work, usually involving carving Roblox's respawn symbol into one's skin:
A quick search on X shows kids are really doing this. I'll let you decide whether or not you wanna see those. They're a tad graphic.
And some of the "cult leaders" are asking for more:
The cult servers are also reportedly popular grounds for pedophiles looking for vulnerable children.
By July, Roblox and Discord were actively hunting and shutting down servers related to Spawnism.
The creator of Forsaken took to X to issue the following announcement:
All of this to say, make sure you know what your kids are into online.
I only found out about all this because my 15-year-old said, "Hey Dad, this might be a good Not the Bee story," and I was horrified: both that this sort of thing exists and that my son had been exposed to it.
Fortunately, I've been vigilant to talk to my kids and have tried to limit their access to it as much as possible, and I'm proud of my son for bringing it to me instead of engaging with it.
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