IT’S hard to believe that the internet, which we are all awfully reliant on these days, have caused countless perils as much as it has given us conveniences in our daily activities. Through the rise of the so-called world wide web and the social media, we can easily communicate with friends and loved ones despite the distance that physically separates us. At the same time, the many benefits of being online has been felt in the workplace as it eases transactions and encourages collaboration among workers.
Unfortunately, the internet has also been bringing about many issues and concerns that adversely affects our lives. The most recent ones are the “Momo Challenge” and the “Blue Whale Challenge” and are believed to be infiltrating kids and teenagers through an app and Youtube as well.
According to theasianparent.com, “the Momo Suicide Challenge is a game which has roots in Japan. Essentially, it all started with Facebook group members daring themselves to contact an unknown number. Nowadays, the suicide game is popular on both Facebook and Whatsapp. The anonymous person with the unknown number, who is commonly known as “Momo”, will instruct you to engage in odd activities, like waking up at night or overcoming a fear.”
Apparently, Momo also asks children to document the tasks by filming themselves, and gives out more dangerous activities up to the extent of children killing other people and themselves. Parents who have proven that their children are victims of this challenge say that their children were threatened if they refuse to fulfill the given tasks to them.
Here in the Philippines, the parents of the 11-year old boy who overdosed himself with gout medicines were shocked to find out that their son had been involved in such a challenge, that led the young boy to killing himself while inside the premises of their school in Quezon City. Similarly, here in Pampanga, a well-known make-up artist, who admitted to having been so “busy making money” that she forgot to spend time with her kids, has also found out that her son is also a victim of the challenge. Good thing, she was able to know earlier and prevented her child from undertaking more dangerous tasks.
This is why as a parent myself, who is equally guilty of not having the time to supervise and monitor what our kids consume through the internet, should be awakened by these sad events to do what is right for our kids. Ideally, we should limit our kids’ exposure to the internet, or even eliminate screen time which is even best for our children.
We certainly can prevent these kinds of things from happening, and it is certainly in our hands as parents. It is our responsibility to guide and make our children safe from all sorts of harm in this world. Let us not wait when it is too late for us to save them from all the dangers and negative impacts of the internet.
Let us not allow our kids to grow up without us at their side to continuously nurture and protect them. While we are busy making ends meet, let us always out in our minds that it is not only money that our kids need, but most importantly, they need our love, care, and attention for them to become the best they can ever be.