Student Safety Update: Momo Challenge
Posted on 03/01/2019
The San Bernardino City Unified School District wants to make you aware of the latest viral challenge/hoax targeting children. It is called the Momo challenge. The hoax falsely claims that a disturbing character suggests dangerous tasks for children to perform, including potentially hurting themselves or hiding for an extended period of time. These suggestions can reportedly be found spliced into some YouTube Kids videos, including Fortnite and Peppa Pig, and the smartphone and tablet app WhatsApp.
While the Momo challenge is a hoax, we encourage families to use this as an opportunity to educate children about internet safety. We also recommend you monitor what your child is watching, even if the videos appear to be safe, to ensure their viewing does not include harmful messages.
We want you to know we are aware of this hoax and are working to ensure that it is not discussed or referenced in classrooms or at recess and lunch. We appreciate your help in making sure our students are safe. Please know that if we have any concerns regarding the safety of our students, we will immediately notify parents. As you know, our District has security measures in place to keep students safe while using District technology. Students are not permitted to access sites that have been deemed dangerous and students are monitored by school staff while using technology devices.
You can learn more about the Momo challenge/hoax at the link below. Please note that some of the images may be disturbing: https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/02/26/momo-challenge-suicide-game/.
For more information about internet safety for children, please visit these links:
https://www.parenting.com/gallery/social-media-monitoring-kids?page=2 https://www.safesearchkids.com/
https://childmind.org/article/media-guidelines-for-kids-of-all-ages/
Thank you for your attention to this important matter. Please call your child's school if you have questions or concerns regarding this or any other social media/internet concerns. We appreciate your support for our students and their safety.