Pupils banned from playing ‘demon game’
A supernatural game played by school children has been called "demonic" and is sowing fear and panic in Cape Town.
|||Cape Town - A supernatural game played by school children has been called “demonic” and is sowing fear and panic in Cape Town.
Principals from several primary and high schools have now banned the game, saying any pupil caught playing it will be expelled.
The game called “Charlie Charlie” is played with two pencils placed across each other on a piece of paper on which “Yes” and “No” are written.
The spirit of Charlie is “summoned” and asked questions, and Charlie responds by moving the pencils.
Pelican Park Primary school circulated a SMS saying: “Parents, pls be aware of new game, Charlie Charlie, a demonic game downlded frm internet, is prohibited at our school. Learner caught will be suspended.”
One scared 12-year-old boy from Steenberg says he has not been back to school after seeing his friends play the game: “We sat in class on Monday when they started playing this game.
“They asked me to join and I said no but they continued without me and I watched them play.
“They chanted the name ‘Charlie’ thrice and asked, ‘Do you like girls, Charlie?’
“And then the pencil moved without anyone touching it. I got so scared, I thought [the spirit] would come for me.”
However, the boy’s father believes there is a scientific explanation for the pencil moving.
The father said: “I saw this game on a TV documentary just last week. The top pencil is placed in a certain position, it will move as soon as it’s slightly touched or breathing over it.”
But he does find it “weird” that the pencil only moves after the child asked the question.
Carol Johnson from Mitchells Plain said her 14-year-old daughter came home frantic on Monday.
Johnson said: “My daughter couldn’t sleep that night because she was afraid, we prayed before she went to sleep but she was restless again after 1am.
“I will go to the school and plead with the principal to do something about this satanic game.”
Principal Erfaan Dollie of Seaview Primary School in Rocklands, admits the game has been played at his school.
“I am dealing with this situation and I can assure parents that they need not worry because this is all a new trend, just like other such games that came over the years,” Dollie said.
“Why is it that these things are not heard of at upper class schools, why is it just happening at the poorer schools?
“Because our people lack education about these things.
“If you are raising your child with proper morals and values then such games won’t be treated with as much attention as the children are treating it now.
“I have a good school and I don’t tolerate these kind of disruptions.”
Spokesperson for the Western Cape Education Department Jessica Shelver said they were not aware of the matter.
History of the game of ghosts
The “Charlie Charlie” game is a modern incarnation of a Spanish paper-and-pencil game called Juego de la Lapicera, literally meaning “the game of the pens”.
Teenage girls have played Juego de la Lapicera for generations in Spain and Hispanic America, asking which boys fancy them.
The game was popularised in the English-speaking world in 2015, partly through the hashtag #CharlieCharlieChallenge.
Dabbling in the spirit world is not new for South African kids – many have tried their hand at the spooky Ouija board, or played “glasie glasie”.
These games all involve communicating with the supernatural.
But the biggest mystery now is, who exactly is Charlie?
There seems to be quite a few versions, with some Spanish sites saying Charlie could be a child who committed suicide, the victim of a fatal car accident, or a pagan Mexican deity who now convenes with the Christian devil.
Daily Voice