The ‘Momo Challenge’ has got a lot of parents worried. I made the mistake of just showing my son the picture of Momo to see if it popped up on his computer when he was watching Papa Jake. He was instantly terrified.
The best way to keep your child safe from these videos is to limit the amount of screen time they are getting. Get them involved in activities that keep them moving and keep their mind engaged. My favorite activity for kids is Martial Arts. Below are some of the benefits of getting you child involved in martial arts.
- Exercise/Fitness: Martial arts classes keep your child moving and learning about their body. Weather we are Kicking and punching bags, Doing forms or practicing Self-Defense moves with a partner, they are using their body in a productive way and not just sitting there starring at a screen.
- Character Development: Every month we use the Black Belt Excellence system to go over specific life skills. February was Sharpen your focus. During class we talk about how to focus better. We teach them to listen to their teacher and parents. At the same time we do drills in class that make them use focus in order to be successful at learning what we are teaching. Then we make a big deal about them being able to learn it. This helps reinforce being able to focus.
- Self-Confidence: Children will feel confident when they know they are good at something. Martial arts allows every child to get good in an area of training. Every child is not going to be great at everything we do but there are so many aspects of training that they learn. For example we do Forms, Kicking, Combos, Self Defense Techniques, Sparring, Weapons Training, just to name a few. Some children may not have the body to be great at kicking over there head, but may be awesome at performing the Self-Defense techniques. This type of Individuality that Martial arts promotes is crucial to Self Confidence and will help with peer pressure. Children need to know its ok to be who they are.
- Social Environment: Get them out of the house and into a program with their friends. Kids today are social but more so on their device. They link up with their friends and talk while playing video games. We see it in class when we ask them to go and get a partner. They have a hard time with this. They kind of go over and stand in front of someone and just stare at them. We have to have them practice going over to someone and ask them to be there partner. Remember when we use to go to our friends house and knock on the door and ask their mom if they can come out and play. Children don’t get to do that anymore.
- Fun: Learning Martial arts is fun. We teach it in a fun way that allows children to gain the benefits of training in martial arts while having a good time. The old style marital arts was created by Men for Men to do battle. That is not how we teach it. Students can gain all the benefits that martial arts has to offer all while having a good time with their friends doing it.
- Helps with Parent Child Communication: Parents are encouraged to sit and watch our classes. They get to see and hear everything we are teaching. Sometimes we will even get the parents involved in the class by asking a question. The other night I asked the parents if they would love it if they never had to punish there child again. And of course every parent watching class said yes. Then went on to explain to their children that the only reason they get punished is because they don’t do what their parents tell them to do. I taught them that if they do what they are supposed to do without talking back they will not get in trouble anymore. This allows parents to open up a conversation with their child in the car on the way home from class about the topics we are teaching. Children will then feel more comfortable talking with their parents about things that they are going through.
This ‘Momo Challenge’ is scary. But is just something else we have to be aware of and find ways to protect our children from. Their will always be bad people out there. Some people are always looking for ways to hurt others. We teach our students that they need to be aware and ready to protect themselves all the time. The same is true for being online and playing games or watching videos. Some children are too young to protect themselves. As parents we are responsible to do this. And as a parent my too little ones will be training in Martial arts. If you would like to schedule a Free Martial Arts Class Click Here.
This was in class Thursday Night. Friends who train together, stick together. They are also wearing their Dragon Gate hat with their Black Belt Excellence pins.
