-EDITORIAL
The internet can be a terrifying place.
This fact is especially true when it comes to children.
Kids these days are constantly online via social media, apps, and texting, among others.
This creates a platform for issues like cyberbullying, intimate image sharing, and taunting.
But there’s a new problem that has surfaced, and parents need to be warned.
The “Momo Challenge” is the newest form of cyberbullying. It’s spread through social media, phone and tablet apps, and YouTube.
Momo makes graphic threats that often instruct kids to perform dangerous tasks.
We just came off the curtails of Pink Shirt Day, which provides a great platform to continue the conversation about the dangers of social media, the internet, and reaching out to users you don’t know.
In some cases, the Momo Challenge comes across through YouTube channels, similar to an ad. Regardless of how they’re getting into kids’ hands, the user is telling them to harm themselves or face the consequences.
Parents are learning the hard way from their kids.
In some circumstances, children are being told that if they tell their parents about Momo, something will happen to their families.
The images circulating online are terrifying.
What’s known as “Momo,” is reportedly a Japanese statue featuring a woman with bugling eyes and stringy black hair.
If you’re a child, Momo could persuade you to do something you would never do otherwise, essentially out of fear alone.
This challenge is a reminder to sit down and talk to your kids about being online, and having open communication.
Schools sat their students down to talk about it, and those kids brought the issue home to their parents.
That’s what something like this should start, is open dialogue.
Momo is creating a fear in all of us, whether you’re a parent who’s worried about their child’s access to what’s online, a youth who has seen the video, or someone without kids who is simply wondering ‘who would do such a thing?’
Regardless of what your thoughts are, most can agree that whoever did this, is doing this, needs to be caught so they can face the consequences of their actions. No matter what it takes.
