Momo, Huggy Wuggy-style ‘cyber monster’ can always appear, how to set up a shield to protect children?

In addition to the clips on the Tiktok and Youtube platforms with entertainment and educational value, there are also many clips with objectionable and vulgar content that negatively affect viewers. If a few years ago, the “Momo challenge” was repeatedly accused of causing children to panic and learn to harm themselves, recently the British police have issued a warning about another “monster” appearing on the Internet. cyberspace. It is a cartoon character Huggy Wuggy – a blue bear with razor sharp teeth that scares many children.

Huggy Wuggy is appearing in many video clips on Youtube.

Huggy is originally a villain from a survival horror game called Poppy Playtime, made by independent developer MOB Games, which first appeared on Steam. Joining this game, the player will play the role of a former employee who is revisiting the abandoned toy factory owned by Playtime company 10 years after the company’s employees mysteriously disappeared.

In the game, this green bear character will chase and threaten other characters so brutally that it makes many children uncomfortable and scared.

British police said that although it is only a fantasy product, Huggy Wuggy can cause panic among children. Parents should be wary of videos containing this character.

Currently, many Vietnamese parents say that their children have seen a clip with this character without even knowing its harmful effects. Even on the children’s toy market, stuffed Huggy Wuggy is quite popular.

Talking to an Infonet reporter, Dr. Dr. Tran Thi Hong ThuDeputy Director of the Mai Huong Day Psychiatric Hospital said that the hospital has not yet received patients hospitalized because of obsessions caused by watching these horror clips.

“However, watching a lot of clips with horror content is absolutely not good for children,” Dr. Dr. Hong Thu said.

According to Dr. Dr. Hong Thu, not only clips with horror content, but also clips that are abused, excessively viewed are also not good, affecting health and mental health, of which ominous is the impact of behavioral infection. This effect is even more dangerous if you watch too many clips with negative content.

“When children form the habit of acquiring those behaviors, they are easily obsessed with causing unhealthy emotions,” said Dr. Hong Thu.

Prevention is better than cure!

Children are often curious, imitate and follow without being able to realize whether it should or should not, good or bad. Videos of “monster Momo” with a suicide challenge have had tangible consequences.

Public opinion was stirred by the news that in November 2020, Dong Nai Provincial Police discovered that in Tra Co hamlet, Binh Minh commune, Trang Bom district, an incident of an 8-year-old VPL boy died suspected of being a student. according to the “Momo challenge”.

The incident happened on the evening of 11/21/2020, L. watched TV in the living room with his mother, brother and younger brother, then went to the toilet. At about 9 pm, L. did not see her come out of the toilet, so her mother told L.’s brother to call but there was no answer. When the family member broke the toilet door, they saw L. hanging near the wall. The family took L. to the emergency room but L. died before that.

Information from the family said that L. is a very active baby. During daily play, L. used to hang the clothes he was wearing and dangled from a tree branch. Authorities suspect that baby L.’s death with the above situation may be due to learning from the “Momo challenge” on social networks.

A month before the heartbreaking incident in Dong Nai, a 5-year-old girl in Ho Chi Minh City also lost her life after watching and following a YouTube video teaching how to “tie your neck but still breathe”.

Before that, in November 2019, a 7-year-old boy in Ho Chi Minh City followed the online game of strangulation and almost died. Another case of a broken blood vessel because he broke a glass window with his hand like the clips on the internet…

To avoid the recurrence of these heartbreaking cases, Dr. Dr. Hong Thu said that parents should limit and not let their children depend on online video clips.

“Because even children’s video shows from big-name filmmakers, admittedly, watching too much isn’t necessarily good for kids. Those videos all have bad sides, let alone unorthodox clips.

When children become dependent, it is difficult to cure, so parents should note that when children are not “addicted”, do not let it become a habit,” said Dr. Dr. Hong Thu said.

Deputy Director of Daytime Psychiatric Hospital Mai Huong said that there is no other way but to prevent early harms from children’s passion for watching videos on social networks.

“Parents must pay more attention to their children, spend more time playing with their children, and direct them to outdoor activities.

Electronic devices are a double-edged sword, besides bringing good things, helping children to access new knowledge… they also reveal many disadvantages. Therefore, parents should set up filters, direct their children to watch useful programs, control and be careful with clips that lack education and humanity.

Accordingly, instead of letting their children be engrossed in watching Tiktok, Youtube, parents can download useful games to help their children learn English, Vietnamese, do Math… Most importantly, parents must be with their children, do not leave children with smart electronic devices, “said Dr. Hong Thu.

N. Huyen