Central Coast parents concerned over resurfacing “Momo challenge”

The “Momo game” or “Momo challenge” gained international recognition last summer and was initially considered a hoax quickly becoming a widespread meme.

Over time it faded away, but has since resurfaced. The terrifying face has been found in videos geared for kids on social media.

When children participate in the challenge, they contact a stranger concealing them self as “Momo” using a creepy image and communicate primarily through the Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp. Momo encourages a participant to complete various tasks if they want to avoid being “cursed.” Some of the tasks include self harm, which Momo asks the participant to provide photographic evidence in order to continue the game. Ultimately, the game ends with Momo telling the participant to take their own life and record it for social media.

Now parents on the Central Coast are wondering how to approach the topic with their kids.

“I’m afraid she’s going to see it eventually from someone at school,” Genevive Toribio said.

Toribio found out about the social media challenge Wednesday, and has been keeping her nine-year-old daughter off of Youtube since.

“We’re going to have to be aware,” Toribio said. “We can’t just keep them away from it, its going to get to them, and we’re going to have to know how to handle it.”

Devon Corpus, a clinical social worker, said it’s important for parents to have the conversation with their kids.

“There is a myth about bringing this up and then all of a sudden my kid will want to do it,” Corpus said. “It’s kind of like the old myth about suicide and self harm. All of a sudden if I bring it up, I’m going to put the idea in their head. That’s not how it works.”

Salinas City Elementary School District and other schools around the world are warning parents and students about the “Momo challenge.”

“While there have been no reports of student interaction with it in our community, the Salinas City Elementary School District is urging parents to become aware of this potentially dangerous challenge and to monitor their children’s use of social media and the internet.”

According to Corpus,this all feeds into the new age of peer pressure on social media.

As far as we know, there haven’t been any reports of kids on the Central Coast finding the “Momo challenge” hidden in a video, but it certainly has parents on high alert.