Andover Schools Issue 'Momo Challenge' Warning

ANDOVER, MA -- Andover Public Schools posted a warning to parents about the "Mono Challege" that has resurfaced online in recent days. While there have been no reports of students in Andover participating in the challenge, the district's note said it posted the notice to give parents information and encourage them to "monitor your children’s use of social media and the internet."

While the Mono Challenge was debunked as an Internet hoax when it first appeared last year, it resurfaced this week with parents in the U.K. reporting their kids had received messages through WhatsApp, YouTube Kids, Facebook and other social media platforms. The videos feature an animated character that encourages children to participate in risky or self-injurious behavior and not tell adults.

"We recommend you talk to your children about this challenge in a way that you feel is appropriate for their understanding," Andover Superintendent Sheldon Berman wrote. "We also recommend monitoring what your children are watching on-line to ensure their viewing does not include these harmful messages."

Related: Read Superintendent Sheldon Berman's complete note to parents.

In a statement, Facebook-owned Whatsapp said it was aware of the new reports and was working to block the content from its platforms. "It's easy to block any phone number and we encourage users to report problematic messages to us so we can take action," the company said.

YouTube, meanwhile, issued a statement Thursday saying it had not found any of the videos on its platform.

"After much review, we’ve seen no recent evidence of videos promoting the Momo Challenge on YouTube. Videos encouraging harmful and dangerous challenges are clearly against our policies, the Momo challenge included," the video-sharing company said. "Despite press reports of this challenge surfacing, we haven’t had any recent links flagged or shared with us from YouTube that violate our Community Guidelines."

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Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).