Prevention of “dangerous games” on the internet: experience of the DimiCuida Institute actuation in digital environments

Abstract

“Dangerous games” (“online challenges”) are part of digital culture, attracting thousands of children and adolescents and causing severe damage to health. This article aimed to analyze the experience of the DimiCuida Institute (IDC), in Fortaleza (state of Ceará), a pioneering action to prevent online challenges dangerous to health, which are disseminated in different Web 2.0 environments. The study had as specific objectives to analyze the emergence of the Institute; identify the main partners involved, the digital and analog environments where they operate; and understand the prevention strategies developed. It is a case study based on document analysis. The collection, extracted from several digital platforms, was processed with Atlas Ti and submitted to thematic analysis. The IDC emerges from the existential and political resignification of a bereavement experience and is characterized by emphasizing alternatives to online activities, with the school and its agents as a central focus. Due to being a field under construction and without previous reference of action, the prevention carried out in digital environments scarcely explores the internet language and resources, bets on parental control, and takes little into acount the experiences of the body and identity performances involved in the challenges.