Momo and other child horrors

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Rikkitic

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#247879 28-Feb-2019 13:55

I no longer have small children in my life and am not up to date on issues affecting them. So I was not aware of the horrific Momo challenge phenomenon or other on-line evils. Am I naive or just hopelessly out of touch? Apparently this unspeakable nastiness is injected into children's games and cartoons and tries to scare them into harming themselves or even committing suicide! What kind of f*cked up people do this? What possible motive can there be? There has been a lot of outrage about Star the pony who was subjected to a vicious and senseless knife attack. I thought that was bad. And now apparently there are well-organised and resourced groups devoted to literally scaring kids to death! Has the world gone completely insane? There was nothing like this in my childhood. What the hell is going on?

I don't think there is ever a bad time to talk about how absurd war is, how old men make decisions and young people die. - George Clooney

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#2189161 1-Mar-2019 00:03

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/28/viral-momo-challenge-is-a-malicious-hoax-say-charities

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momo_Challenge

In short, don't believe everything you read.

Rikkitic

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#2189162 1-Mar-2019 00:13

If this is a hoax, it is a pretty nasty one.

I don't think there is ever a bad time to talk about how absurd war is, how old men make decisions and young people die. - George Clooney

freitasm

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#2189163 1-Mar-2019 01:44

Lots of urban legends are like this.

Dratsab

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#2189193 1-Mar-2019 07:34

freitasm: Lots of urban legends are like this.

Yep - media hysteria whips these sort of things up into far greater things than they are or need to be especially when coupled with over reacting parents/concerned citizens. Slender Man and the associated attempted murder of a 12yo girl who was stabbed 19 times by two other 12yo girls in 2014 is a good example of this.

chevrolux

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#2189197 1-Mar-2019 08:00

YouTube algorithmically identifies if videos contain footage of other Youtube videos in them for copyright purposes. They could easily identify something like this and kill the videos extremely fast.

But also, Youtube isn't a baby sitter....

Fred99

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#2189200 1-Mar-2019 08:11

The video on Youtube Kids reported on by Arstechnica doesn't seem like a hoax.
It's claimed that Youtube took a week to take it down after it was reported/publicised.

FWIW, here's a screen capture of the guy from the arstechnica article - there's nothing vague or disputable, his instruction “Remember, kids, sideways for attention, longways for results” is clear. The article missed that he also says "end it" as he walks off screen.

But this may be a one-off or extremely rare occurrence, it's a (very) sick joke.

The original source of the Arstechnica article has a website - the very unfortunately named "pedi mom" (she's a pediatrician and a mom). Link here. NSFW warning if you're playing the clips allegedly taken from Youtube Kids.

Beccara

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#2189203 1-Mar-2019 08:21

Kids don't need the internet to come up with dumb stuff to do. In the 80's/90's it was the blackout game of hyperventilating on purpose then holding your breath, Sleeper holds did the rounds after seemingly every after action movie release.

It's just different now in that the craze can spread faster and facebook parents spread panic faster than a California wildfire

Most problems are the result of previous solutions...

All comment's I make are my own personal opinion and do not in any way, shape or form reflect the views of current or former employers unless specifically stated

Geektastic

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#2189204 1-Mar-2019 08:34

There were sick jokes around when I was a child.

Difference was that they only spread person to person, not person to 5 million persons in a day...

I don't have kids but if I had any, their internet use would be subject to a very tightly controlled regime. In just the same way as inappropriate books would have been controlled by my own parents and those acting in loco parentis.

jonathan18

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#2189215 1-Mar-2019 09:01

A report on Nat Rad this morning had someone suggesting it had the hallmarks of a moral panic: https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/383641/momo-challenge-likely-a-hoax-despite-agencies-sending-out-warnings

Edit: sorry, I note the Guardian article linked to near the top has a similar message.

networkn

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#2189231 1-Mar-2019 09:36

We are considering pulling our kids off Youtube for a bit (We aren't entirely satisfied with Youtubes responses to these type of events) which they will be very upset with, but both my kids are immature and quite senstive and seeing something like this would be beyond horrific for them. We have always taken a fairly pragmatic view of these things, but for stuff like this, it's better safe than sorry.

Both my kids are trustworthy, understand when content isn't appropriate, but it's not really feasible for us to watch every video with them. They are usually in the same room as us, and when they aren't like early mornings in weekends, we have them together at least.

I am with @geektastic that having one malfeasant able to affect 5000 kids, it a threat we didn't face in our own childhoods. It scares the snot out of me.

Geektastic

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#2189233 1-Mar-2019 09:41

networkn:
We are considering pulling our kids off Youtube for a bit (We aren't entirely satisfied with Youtubes responses to these type of events) which they will be very upset with, but both my kids are immature and quite senstive and seeing something like this would be beyond horrific for them. We have always taken a fairly pragmatic view of these things, but for stuff like this, it's better safe than sorry.

Both my kids are trustworthy, understand when content isn't appropriate, but it's not really feasible for us to watch every video with them. They are usually in the same room as us, and when they aren't like early mornings in weekends, we have them together at least.

I am with @geektastic that having one malfeasant able to affect 5000 kids, it a threat we didn't face in our own childhoods. It scares the snot out of me.

What is beyond horrific?

freitasm

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#2189239 1-Mar-2019 09:44

Schools, police and media told to stop promoting Momo hoax

Beccara

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#2189283 1-Mar-2019 11:20

Kid to kid transmission or off youtube the impacts the still the same, all it takes is 1 kid in school to know about it and everyone will hear about it if it's viral. We take a fairly relaxed approach to our child's access to the internet, If she doesn't see it herself she'll certainly either see it or be told about it in detail from. We can't prevent our kids from accessing this stuff or seeing it, All we can do is give them tools to help handle it and process it

jonathan18

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#2189325 1-Mar-2019 12:03

Yep, generally agree that you're on a hiding for nothing trying to build an impenetrable wall around one's kids.

First, whatever or however you as parents manage their access to content etc, it's virtually impossible trying the same degree of control outside of the home (school, friends etc);

Second, I'm not sure how well that approach works in building a child's ability to self-manage and respond appropriately. At least educating your kids in relation to dodgy content etc in your own space can help provide them with the tools to better respond when they do encounter it outside of the home. (Or they'll be less likely to go looking as it's not given the verboten allure).

Third, the tools provided by many tech companies to help 'protect' kids are, too often, complete sh!te. Here's looking at YouTube Kids, PS4 parental controls, Google FamilyLink...

freitasm

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#2189326 1-Mar-2019 12:05

It is a hoax.

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