Police, mental health experts warning parents of the return of Momo Challenge

An alert for parents of young children as a creepy looking image that threatens and orders kids to hurt themselves is making the rounds again on the internet.

The Momo Challenge is anything but a challenge. It’s a sick and twisted joke pulled off using a frightening picture embedded in certain kid-friendly YouTube videos telling kids to harm themselves.

The image is actually a Japanese art sculpture and first surfaced back in 2017. 

Now, the creators of this disturbing trend are sneaking in images with potentially harmful messages.

Kristen Donahue of Gloucester, Mass. told Boston 25 that it happened to her two children.

“I was just scrolling through Facebook last night right before they were going to bed and they yelled out ‘that’s Momo!’ And I’m like how do you know who that is? Donahue said. “What [my son] saw scared him so bad that he doesn’t want to sleep alone.”

Dr. Robert Pressman is a child psychologist who said that it comes down to parents understanding the risks associated with letting their children surf the web on their own.

“Kind of like letting your children play on [Interstate] 95 and then complaining about traffic,” he said. “Kind of has a life of its own.”

He said the sad reality is that this won’t be the last time a sick challenge will be posted online targeting children.

Dr. Pressman said some people just are out to harm others.

“You’re not going to try and stop people from kidnapping your child. You’re not going to stop people from giving out poison during Halloween,” he said.

Donahue and Dr. Pressman agree that parents should talk to kids to see if they ever hear of Momo.