Parents around the globe are being warned about the “Momo Challenge,” a troubling viral “game” where children are apparently enticed to complete different tasks—including committing suicide.
Pix 11 reported that parents in New Jersey were sent a warning by the Brick Township Board of Education about the game, which is reportedly associated with social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook.
According to The Patch, The Momo Challenge, which features a freaky-looking female avatar with long dark hair and bugged-out eyes named “Momo”, “asks the child to perform various tasks, and provide photos as proof.”
The children are first reportedly asked if they want to participate. However, those who oblige but don’t cooperate are apparently threatened with death upon themselves or their families through the game.
The tasks are often violent in nature, according to the newspaper, and asks children to commit acts “including self harm and suicide.”
In an app deemed “Escape from Momo 2019,” potential players are told, “This terrible creature wrote you a message, and if it does not get the right message—you will die!”
“Suspense, horror and terror guaranteed,” the app’s description continues.
According to the Daily Mail, the suicides of two teens in Colombia, aged 12 and 16 years old, were blamed by the horrifying challenge.
A school in Texas compared the twisted challenge to that of other “Creepypastas” such as Slenderman. Creepypastas, as described by Bustle, are “chunks of repeatedly copied and pasted text that tell a horror story.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Slenderman is a fictitious character that is believed to be behind the motive of two Wisconsin teens stabbing a fellow classmate 19 times in 2014. The girls who participated in the crime told detectives they believed Slender Man would harm them or their families if they didn’t move forward with the stabbing.
“It has come to our attention that some of our students are talking about a viral internet game [The Momo Challenge],” Corpus Christi Montessori School stated via Facebook.
The school warned parents to speak with their children about the dangers of the game.
“This ‘game’ is believed to be a way for people to hack accounts and is psychologically manipulative towards kids and teens.”
Further, parents were warned watch their children for “mood changes, withdrawing from social life and family, a rise in anger and any other signs of depression.”
[Feature Photo: The Momo Challenge/Facebook]
