What is the Momo Challenge, and How is it Affecting Students?

Welcome to the next twisty and disturbing online harassment challenge. It goes beyond cyberbullying and it is going viral. The Momo Challenge is not only dangerous, but also easily accessible for any child that has access to a tablet or a phone. The concept is you contact Momo via What’s App or Snap Chat. Once you have made contact, you receive disturbing pictures, dangerous challenges including: self-harm and suicide quests.

Momo becomes violent and more aggressive if the challenge is not accepted. Some teens find it funny or something cool to do. However, younger children in middle school and elementary are following the quests and there has been reports of kids committing suicides. We all know how our kids love virtual challenges, video games, and let’s not even start with Fort Night. But this is no joke and certainly not a game. As parents and educators, we need to stop the Momo Challenge.

How is this even happening? Some children that have lower self-esteem, struggle with connecting with peers, and often feel like outsiders might be prone to take the challenge. They might yearn for acceptance and need to validate their feeling of self-loathing. Often children with trauma, unstable homes, and victims of bullying find an escape online. So parents beware of Momo!

Have a talk with your child about the dangers and impact these images and words can have on them! Here are the main points to discuss:

• The impact of seeing violent images over and over can create a twister version of your child’s reality. It can immune them from harm and lure them into playing out these self-harm acts.
• Repeated harassment can lead to doing something you didn’t want to do. Virtual peer pressure and continuous harassment can lead to children acting it out, to just make it stop.
• This is not a real person or friend. It is a twisted sick challenge that hurts people and causes them to fall victims on online harassment.
• Talk about the importance of having real friends and support systems. Talk to your children about building strong friendships online and in person.

We would recommend you explain that Momo can steal your identity and use information against you. Spend time ensuring your child that this is not a game and it can be dangerous. We also recommend you check your child’s What’s App and Snap Chat to ensure that are not playing the Momo Challenge.

Please reach out to Bulldog Solution for more resources or support.

With lots of Love,

The Bulldog Team