MORE York schools have urged parents to speak to their children about the dangers of the Momo ‘suicide game’ - a worrying social media phenomenon.

Last week, York High School warned parents about Momo - a horrific character which is reported to appear on WhatsApp, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook and the online game Minecraft, and encourages young people to hurt or even kill themselves.

The disturbing image of Momo - a young woman with long black hair, large bulging eyes, a wide smile and bird legs - is actually a sculpture called Mother Bird, created by a Japanese special effects company.

One parent said on Mumbler: “I’m sure a lot parents are aware of this ‘Momo’ thing on YouTube, but my boy saw this with his friend a week ago and since then they’ve have had nightmares and are so scared! YouTube is now only allowed in our house when I’m there to supervise. Such a shame and its disgusting that it’s targeting children.”

Manor CE Academy took to Twitter this week following fresh reports, and urged parents to speak to their children, and discuss national online safety advice with them.

Louise Scaum, safeguarding lead at the school, said she was "not aware of any of our pupils being directly affected by Momo", but the school wanted "to help share as much factual information and advice as possible".

She said the warning was sent out following a safeguarding alert from the school's Local Area Team.

She said: "Following a spate of activity on social media stating that Momo was a hoax, we have shared a really useful information sheet produced by National Online Safety (NOS) for parents all about Momo which can be found on their website, as a way of supporting parents in reducing risk as opposed to just issuing a warning. The strategies detailed on this sheet apply to more than just Momo, but are helpful tips to keeping children safe online in general."

Parents who are concerned about their children's online activity are urged to contact the school.

National Online Safety - which provides online safety training for schools - said YouTube algorithms could automatically link one video featuring ‘Momo’ or other inappropriate material to another as part of its ‘Up Next’ feature, and thumbnail images on the videos were often designed to look innocent, with the inappropriate material appearing midway through the clips.

Their advice to parents included:

- Tell children it’s not real, cannot hurt them, and discourage them from seeking out this content online.

- Be present while children are online to gain a better understanding of the material they are viewing.

- Talk regularly with children about what they do online, and issues or concerns they have.

- Check device settings and parental controls, ensuring auto-play is switched off and inappropriate content cannot be viewed.

- Explain to children they do not have to take part in trends or viral challenges just because others might.

- Check the validity of anything you see online which concerns you to ensure it is not a hoax.

- Report and block any inappropriate material to help websites remove it and prevent further issues.

North Yorkshire Police has also issued advice, here.

According to snopes.com - a website which investigates hoaxes and misinformation - the image was linked to the deaths of a 12-year-old girl in Buenos Aires, two young men in India, and a 12-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy in Colombia, although rarely with official confirmation.

The website said “word of the Momo challenge is now so widespread that whether or not it represents a real threat, the subject has generated rumours that in themselves can be cause for concern among children”.

A spokesman said: “Possibly some children have come to harm because of Momo (although documentation of any such occurrences remains sketchy), and even if so, that phenomenon may primarily be a product of bullies and pranksters latching onto a handy mechanism to goad and torment vulnerable youngsters rather than an intrinsic part of a particular social media challenge.”