Safeguarding

Vigilance around Online media

We would like to make you aware of a concern regarding online media. This includes YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram and games such as Fortnite. The concern is to do with a ‘pop up’ called the ‘Momo Challenge’. Some children are very aware of the ‘Momo Challenge’ and it has been the focus of conversation on school playgrounds this week.

According to reports, the pop-up can occur across a range of media and has happened in the middle of YouTube videos, especially those targeted at children such as ‘Peppa Pig’. The pop-up is an unpleasant and scary caricature of a woman with distorted and bulgy eyes.

There are a number of concerns relating to this.

• On its own, the imagery can be disturbing to children causing them to be frightened.
• The character allegedly suggests the children add a contact on WhatsApp and then bombards them with messages suggesting self-harm and other damaging behaviour. This is obviously a significant safeguarding risk.
• Whilst this is disturbing, police have suggested that the driving force behind the app is to ‘mine’ information and data which can subsequently be used fraudulently.

Please see these links below for further information:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-47359623

https://nationalonlinesafety.com/resources/platform-guides/momo-online-safety-guide-for-parents/

There is plenty of additional information relating to this particular issue should parents carry out a search for it.

As always, we would encourage parents to ensure they continue to be highly vigilant regarding all the online activity their children are engaged in.