For the past decade, the danger of the internet has occupied the forefront of media and concerned parents. People have chosen to feed off the fear of the public and create what is being called the “Momo Challenge.”
The Momo Challenge caught the attention of parents and social media users back in July of 2018 and recently began to reemerge in an extreme fashion.
Momo was believed to be hacking into Fortnite and Minecraft YouTube videos. In these hacks, Momo was instructing the young viewers to follow her harmful directions. Rumors said this so called “challenge” was convincing young YouTube viewers to commit self-harm or even take their own life. However, it is now seen simply as a hoax.
Youtube has been in operation since February 2005 and has since built up a large following of 1.9 billion monthly users and a billion hours of video streaming daily. The viewers vary in age, but many young children and adolescents spend countless hours indulging in videos found on Youtube. The popularity of this site makes it the ideal platform for chaos and terror.
The mass hysteria over Momo was sparked by a Twitter post. This tweet warned people of the dangers of the Momo Challenge and instructed the viewers to spread the word. Although the account who created this post no longer exists, the tweet accumulated more than 22,000 retweets.
To make matters worse, Kim Kardashian posted a warning for parents to her Instagram following of 130 million. With a click of a button, the wildfire of fear was ignited.
Psychology teacher and parent, Ann Berger, is not surprised this hoax has spread so quickly. “We live in a culture of fear,” she said. Berger believes that in a world so focused on what could go wrong, something like the Momo challenge is bound to emerge. “Our society fetishizes safety.” Berger said.
Not only was this urban legend and hoax spread through social media outlets, but the hoax was able to proliferate with the help of local law enforcement and schools. Jim Waterson of The Guardian believes this to be a major cause. “A lot of this relies on people believing their local school or police force knows what they are talking about when it comes to the internet.” he said.
Waterson continued, “Unfortunately most don’t have a clue and are sending letters to parents, warning of non-existent issues like YouTube videos being ‘hacked’.” With the safety of its students in mind, the PV district made this mistake.
On Feb. 28, the Pleasant Valley School District sent out their own warning in a mass email, cautioning parents of the challenge after The Atlantic had already published an article calling the challenge a hoax.
The same article in The Atlantic explained that parents take to social media because spreading such warnings makes them feel as though they can protect their children from bad things on the internet by simply sharing a post.
But keeping your kids safe when they are using the internet isn’t so simple. The best way to keep your children safe when it comes to the internet, according to experts, is to simply communicate with them.
