Holy Trinity Catholic School Division is reminding parents to check their children’s internet activity after a disturbing trend has started to show up online.

It's called the Momo Challenge, and it has been appearing on different types of social media. People, usually children, will receive a message from an unknown person encouraging them to engage in self harm and suicidal behaviours. The person will then tell the victim that they know where they live and know their family, which usually escalates to threats.

Videos discussing the same have been showing up on YouTube as well, hidden within children's videos. Caregivers are reminded to monitor their kids' internet activity and watch only trusted videos.

The trend began in 2016 on a mobile intstant messaging application called ‘Whatsapp.’ A phone number associated with the name ‘Momo’ and a picture of a girl with bulging eyes and wide mouth used a feature called ‘Quick Add.’ After seemingly innocent messages would go back and forth, Momo would then escalate into encouraging the child to begin self-harm and suicidal behaviours.

Recently, the challenge has used new or unreliable YouTube accounts and the challanges begin 5 to 10 minutes into episodes intended for younger viewers like Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol or Minecraft gameplay.

Parents are encouraged to closely monitor their children’s internet activity and explain the potential risk of using streaming platforms like YouTube. 

The RCMP issued a release saying that there have been no complaints in Saskatchewan so far, but that it's important for parents to report any suspicious online activity to their local police service or to the RCMP.