Momo, an internet character with bulging eyes and other distorted features, is not only creepy but can also be deadly according to a post on Corpus Christi Montessori School’s Facebook page.
“As I did research, it seemed to be more scary and more concerning than I thought it might have been,” Terri Morris, the school’s librarian and media specialist said. “So, I thought that our parents need to know before the kids find out about it without parents knowing that this is a thing.”
Attention CC-Montessori community. It has come to our attention that some of our students are talking about a viral…
Posted by Corpus Christi Montessori School on Monday, November 26, 2018
A variety of media reports has the ‘Momo Challenge’ linked to at least two suicides – a 12 year old in Argentina and an 18 year old in India. When you reach out to Momo on “Whatsapp’ and other smartphone apps, the person who responds challenges you to harm yourself or kill yourself as the video camera rolls.
“Because it had had a few deaths already linked to it, I thought parents need to know,” Morris said.
She accomplished that by posting about the dangers of the Momo Challenge on the school’s Facebook page on Monday. By today, some parents had already read the post.
Trey Watkins/Father of First Grader (girl)
“My thought was just about the manipulation of the minds, the things that people can pull off on the internet that the didn’t used to be able to,” Trey Watkins, a father of a first grade girl said.
Other parents found out through word of mouth, but their reaction was the same.
“That’s crazy,” Melinda LeClair, a mother of a first grade boy said. “I don’t know why people have to do stuff like that.”
Students were also left with lots of questions about the Momo Challenge.
“Who would invent this?” sixth grader Addie Clore said after shrieking in disgust at her first sight of Momo.
Her question remains in the hands of investigators. So far there are no reports of any arrests.
