Momo challenge

You will probably already have heard news reports or seen links via social media about the Momo Challenge. Although this is now being reported as a hoax, the reports and warnings could still cause distress to children – there are so often things that happen online that can be misleading or frightening and some things that are specifically designed to get a lot of attention! Should you require any further information or advice, I have attached a ‘Top Tips for Parents’ guide published by National Online Safety which relates to this challenge.

In school, we have answered some questions about this subject with our older children as a number of them have heard news reports or spoken to older siblings or parents about it. More generally, we are using this as an opportunity to remind children about basic online safety advice and making sure they know to talk to an adult about anything they see or are asked to do that makes them feel scared, worried or uncomfortable. 

As parents, you could take the opportunity to review privacy settings on devices and consider how your child accesses the internet. Parents of younger children may also want to install YouTube Kids, a more controlled version of YouTube intended for families, for better control of what young children may come across online.