Mumbai: Teachers, parents raise concerns over Momo Challenge

With a 12-year-old girl from Argentina dying allegedly because of a Momo Challenge she was involved in, teachers of schools from across the city and parents have started raising concerns about chances of the disastrous online game affecting their children's browsing activities and eventually pushing them to suicide. They have written a letter to Ravi Shankar Prasad, minister of communication and IT, requesting him to take proactive steps in order to ensure that children in India don't fall prey to the challenge.

Even though no case related to the Momo Challenge has been reported in India and it's still not something to be worried about, parents and teachers prefer to take preventive measures. Especially with the Mumbai Police tweeting about the game to create awareness among people, they want their kids to be well informed, so that they don't take up the challenge.

Speaking to mid-day, Anil Bornare, president of Maharashtra Rajya Shikshak Parishad, Mumbai north division, said, "When we are aware of the threat the challenge poses, it's better to take proactive steps to stop it, instead of waiting for it to claim another victim. As everyone is speaking about it across media platforms, we are sure children will get to know about it in course of time. It's better to be safe than sorry."

The letter that the organisation has sent to Prasad states, "A new online game - Momo Challenge - is creating a lot of panic across the world. A student from Argentina recently became a victim of it. Before this, there have been a number of tragic incidents in India due to the Blue Whale Challenge. Many children get attracted to such games and commit suicide on not being able to complete the tasks. Hence, it's our sincere and humble request to prevent this game from entering the country."

Speaking about his concern, Uday Nare, a teacher from Hansraj Morarji School in Andheri, said, "It's not a big threat at the moment, as school kids are not seen talking about it. But we do need to take preventive steps."

The challenge
Through this online game, people are challenged to talk to an unknown number, who sends a number of tasks and activities to be completed in order to meet the person. The challenge includes a number of dangerous activities, which might eventually force the user to commit suicide. If the person refuses to do the tasks, then Momo threatens them with violent images.

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