What parents need to know about the ‘Momo challenge’
Perhaps you’ve heard of it – the "Momo challenge."
It involves a ghoulish-looking girl with a creepy smile and grotesque rumors involving social media and suicide.
Pretty ugly stuff.
In a so-called Momo challenge children are said to receive anonymous threatening messages tied to pictures of the Momo character.
These messages allegedly encourage them to take part in dangerous activities that include threatening others and inflicting self-harm, even possibly killing themselves.
With reports like that, parents are concerned. So are police departments.
The thing is very little of it appears to be real.
There are reports of suicides around the world, supposedly tied to the challenge, but none have been proved,
reported in September.
“The Momo thing is much more akin to an urban legend right now,” said ReignBot, a YouTuber famous for videos digging into things like this on the Internet and social media.
about the “Momo Challenge” has 2.3 million views.
“People are claiming what Momo is and what Momo does, but not that many people have actually interacted with the account,” she told The Post. “Finding screenshots of interactions with Momo is nearly impossible and you’d think there’d be more for such a supposedly widespread thing.”
Tech journalist Larry Magid
that the game is “likely a hoax.”
Still, the scary nature of the challenge prompts concern and words of warning from law enforcement around the world.
, dubbing it a high-risk alert.
So did authorities in Florida.
“We haven’t received any reports on this in Pasco but we merely want to share this warning that law enforcement agencies from several countries are putting out,”
. “We want to remind parents to always be aware of what their kids are doing on social media.”
And technology experts say that’s the real point of all the rumors surrounding the Momo challenge.
While this challenge – in a long line of internet challenges – may only be a hoax, it’s an important reminder for parents to keep tabs on what their children are doing on social media and elsewhere.
