TOLEDO (WTOL) - It’s a scary challenge that’s convincing some children to hurt themselves.
Momo is a character that reaches kids through social media sites and encourages them to self-harm.
WTOL first told you of the Momo Challenge back in August when it made its way into our area. Well now it’s back and social media experts are extending a warning to parents.
They said parents need to be alert and talk to their kids about the Momo challenge.
“It’s scary you know,” said Lt. Dave Carter during an interview in August of 2018.
His son was watching Minecraft videos on YouTube this past summer when Momo popped up.
”He began talking about Momo and how weird she looked,” said Carter. “So, she (his son’s mom) ended up looking it up and saw that it was that suicide challenge."
While Lt. Carter’s Momo encounter happened months ago, the new fad is far from disappearing. Momo is popping up on social media sites like YouTube, Facebook, and What’s App.
While seeing the picture of the sculpture does nothing but maybe scare you a bit, Momo has been accused of intimidating, threatening and even encouraging self-harm to children on these sites.
Social Media experts say these things can slip through cracks even on trusted sites until someone reports them.
“Most of the time they go looking for things after they’ve happened because they get a report on it and they know to look for it,” said Cyn Mackley, editor of Cyn’s Tech Tips. “So when you’re dealing with any kind of user generated content anybody can post anything even if it’s completely against the rules.
”Cyn said you need to be vigilant when your kids are online. You should look at their view history, set up security measures, and beware of messaging sites. Experts say you will only know what your kids are seeing if you watch every video they can view. They encourage you to watch videos along with your child, download videos off of the original site for viewing in a different way or they suggest you create a specific playlist for them to click through.
“You need to supervise them when they are online, it’s not a babysitter,” said Mackley. “You need to be aware of what they are watching. I think the most important thing you can do is to foster a culture in your home that they are going to come and tell you if they see something odd or scary.”
While experts don’t want you to freak out about Momo, they said it is okay to go back to what some see as “old school” with DVD’s and streaming services.
They do still suggest you have an open dialogue with your kids. It can be as simple as asking what they are watching regularly and checking to see if they see anything scary along the way that you need to address.
YouTube has addressed the Momo Challenge, saying it’s seen no recent evidence of videos promoting the challenge, but encourages you to immediately flag videos that include harmful or dangerous challenges that you might see on the platform.