The Momo challenge, what to know and tell other parents
I am often public enemy numero uno SPECIFICALLY in the mornings SPECIFICALLY when we are getting ready to go ANYWHERE. I stay calm on my face but my children somehow pick up on the rage pounding in my chest when they are not meshing with my agenda to get out the flipping door.
My emotions were in a contest yesterday morning. Fight, flight, super-stress, anger, oh-my-gosh-my-child-needs-a-therapist, fear, and then sympathy…..who opened the door, saw the mess, and ran the other way. Have you ever carried your child to the car by his or her feet? Or maybe left your child standing in the driveway as you drove away because they REFUSE to leave the house? I’m asking for a friend, of course. My “friend” left her kid standing in the driveway yesterday morning because she screamed like a feral animal caught in a trap for about an hour because of SOCKS. I don’t mean socks as in multiple socks/punches to the face because that makes sense. I mean socks that you wear on your feet. The wacky socks for wacky socks day she chose were too fluffy and didn’t fit in her shoe properly. This led to some unpleasantries of which I will not share. I will just say there was screaming…..which led to refusal to get in the car, which led to my “friend” driving off and leaving her child standing in the driveway. Ok so it was for about 50 feet but still. Just a quick note about how I was all up in my feelins’ yesterday morning:
However, the bottom line is that I can be the enemy with my kid because I’m mom and regardless of the crazy I love my children. They both know that behind all of my frustration is my unconditional love. It’s everybody ELSE that can’t be the enemy. Am I right or am I right mommas?! (I would speak to dads but APPARENTLY they don’t have the same problems #whatever)
Enter the Momo challenge; the real public enemy number 1 right now for moms of young children and youth on YouTube EVERYWHERE! The viral ghost story that is slitting its way through facebook like a chubby kid on a wet slide. Moms and dads everywhere are kickin’ their kids off tablets left and right while writing letters to YouTube that would make your drunk uncle blush. Please allow me to awkwardly show up late to the party on 2 wheels by saying “HOLD YOUR FIRE!”
Momo is a creature-looking girl that has bird-like features with bulging eyes. She is rumored to show up in the middle of kids’ videos and encourage them to harm and even kill themselves. What people don’t know is that Momo is actually an IMAGE STOLEN FROM A JAPANESE HORROR FILM. The Momo “situation” originated in England from an anonymous parent warning against something she said her daughter repeated to her. The local news outlet quickly became the national then international news outlet as EVERYONE jumped on board. No one asked any questions, they just took the word of a young child that MAY have seen something but it was never proven. POLICE HAVE INVESTIGATED THE MOMO CHALLENGE AND IT IS UNSUBSTANTIATED. No deaths have been related to it and NO ONE can find the Momo Challenge videos. These videos that encourage harm are PROHIBITED BY YOUTUBE and thusly against their policy. As soon as they are alerted to harmful videos, they search them out and take them down. BUT, no one can find them.
All of this to say, think of many other hoaxes that WE ALL believed that ended up being just that….HOAXES. This one is no different. The actual harm comes from the spreading of the falsity not the truth of it. Case and point: my ever-fretful 11 year old is like me and a little bit of a chicken with feathers when it comes to scary stuff. She heard about Momo from friends and is now obsessing over this thing popping up on one of the videos she watches online. WE JUST WENT THROUGH THIS A FEW YEARS AGO WITH THE CLOWN RUMORS. You know, the clown luring kids into the woods? Idiots put on clown masks BECAUSE of the rumor and chased a few people around, scaring them senseless. But it wasn’t true. Again, the harm came from the spreading of the rumor not from the truth of it.
The CULTURED PEARLS of WISDOM to gain from this is that there are certainly enemies in cyberspace. But use your solid parenting skills when it comes to that. ALWAYS monitor what they are doing, even if that means through conversation if they are of an age that you are using trust rules. Don’t put them in a bubble that keeps them from experiencing what they will eventually experience when they leave your house by blocking them from technology. And ALWAYS talk to them about how the rules of real life most definitely apply online…. ALWAYS. Lastly, use your jealous girlfriend investigatory skills and search this stuff out. Peel back layers. But ONLY GO TO REPUTABLE SOURCES. Facebook is not that. But ASK QUESTIONS ALWAYS.
And here are some articles (and examples of reputable sources) by people much smarter than me that have researched this Momo thing.
Forbes — Don’t Panic, What Parents Really Need to Know about ‘Momo Challenge’
Washington Post — The ‘Momo challenge’ isn’t a viral danger to children online. But it sure is viral.
That’s enough for me. I’m out!
