Youth, Impressions, and Remaining Proactive

I sat in the back row as eyes grew bigger, hands shot up in the air, and little bodies began wiggling in their seats, eager to speak. Each child was wanting to share his or her experience, the letters which their schools had sent home, and what their parents had told them. Some knew a lot of information, the foul name of the culprit, and a detailed description of the likeness.

The teachers were stunned. This was all a little more than what they had bargained for. Kindly, they called on one child after another, allowing each to share and with every hand which was called upon, another took it's place in the sea of cautious and curious children.

After  a moment I realized from my position in the rear that this was going to derail our lesson. That, important as it was, we had a mission: the White Horse.

Before the eyes grew like saucers and the hands jolted in the air like rockets, I spoke with Mrs. Fran and we talked about our weeks. The children were playing games in the gym and she and I stood off to the side, conversing about nothing, until something.
I had asked her if she knew and she hadn't.
I shared the knowledge I had gained, all the friends I had asked, all the information I had discovered. Daily, it seemed to make it's way into my conversations because I wanted so badly to be informed, and to inform.

More than once Big Strong Man had told me that referring to it so much was giving it power. That it was a demon who was suddenly very popular and I was only feeding it's lust for evil.

But I opened my mouth and out it came, information spoken in whispers, with hand movements and large eyes of my own. Mrs. Fran decided we needed to speak to the children about it that evening, and, on my words and merit, included it into her classroom.

She did not know the name. I don't remember if I even spoke it to her, but she certainly never said it from the front of the room. With all the children looking at her, she said in a serious and stern, yet kind and pressing manner, "You MUST speak with your parents. If an adult tells you to keep a secret, he or she is wrong. You tell your parent."
She continued with computer safety and "people putting things in cartoons when they should not be there". If the children did not already catch her drift, they knew it now, and the drift had a name. 

"You're talking about Momo", they said, one after another.

Then the hands.
"There's this thing called the Momo Challenge...".
"Our school sent home a paper telling us about it...".
"My mom showed me a picture and asked if I ever saw this...".

And then there was the bomb which should have never needed spoken in a classroom. The girl with the short blond bob and the large baby doll eyes spoke directly to Mrs. Fran when she gave us all an education: "Some kids even kill themselves."

It wasn't new news to me. I was aware of the name, the challenge, and some of the dares, including the last, which is suicide.

But the little girl with the bob is nine, maybe ten, so her knowledge of people taking their own lives should have been zilch.

Still more hands waving in the air, silently screaming, "pick me! pick me!".

Trying to catch her eyes, I lifted my adult arm higher than all of their fourth grade arms and, finally catching Mrs. Fran's eyes, asked her if I could speak to the class.
"Of course", she responded, sharing her classroom with me.

"It appears to me that most, if not all, of you are already aware of this. It is unfortunate and disgusting that this exists, but it is important to not be defenseless. If you ever see or hear anything inappropriate, you must tell a trusted adult. An adult should never ask you to keep a secret from your parents- ever! Same as cartoons. If you are watching something and it makes you uncomfortable and scared, you tell an adult immediately."

From there we encouraged the students to speak within their small groups when they were released to them after class. We encouraged the conversation to continue for those who needed it. In that moment, we took our class back. 

What should never had been, had made it's way into our church. The music director's room, serving our third and fourth grade students on this evening was momentarily a place of freight and confusion.

How, it seems, can a good God allow this? 

Although he sat quitely while Mrs. Fran and the students spoke about being safe and unafraid, Mr. Dave then spoke and brought us back, retrieving our minds form the wonders of "why" and the horrors of real life evil.

"Heavenly Father", he began, bringing us in with a prayer. For protection, for conviction, for God's hand upon us all, Mr. Dave prayed. Then class began.

And we spoke about Scripture, God's holy Word.
The children excitedly flipped open their Bibles to Romans, always eager to get there before anyone else.

Romans 5 

Peace and Hope

5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, 

we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 

2 through whom we have gained access by faith 

into this grace in which we now stand. 

And we[b]boast in the hope of the glory of God.    

(New International Version- NIV)

As normal, we break the Scripture down, examining the key words, the redundantcies, the intricacies. But tonight the last sentence got to Mr. Dave some. Prior to class he asked the Lord about it. Just what does "we boast IN THE HOPE OF the glory of God" mean, anyway? 

And as a class we decided that we boast because we are thankful for Jesus in our lives today. 

And we boast about eternal salvation through Jesus.  

And these were correct revelations the children received. "However", said Mr. Dave more than once, "I think there is something more here."

And then he flipped his Bible open to the book of Revelation and began reading:

Revelation 19:11-16 

Christ on a White Horse

11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He [a]had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in [b]fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a [c]sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written. 

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.  

New King James Version (NKJV)

And the eyes grew once again, certainly mine did, as I was reminded that Jesus rules and reigns and judges in righteousness. That He is returning, on His white horse, and He is making war. That evil like this does not win. 

And I had chills last night as I do right now, because what Mr. Dave learned was that we have this life and our eternity with the Father in Heaven, and these are gifts worthy of boasting. And still, in addition to all of that, Jesus defeats the wrongs. Jesus wins the war. Jesus makes all things right. 

Friends, it is imperative that we look out for the younger generations. Our children, and all children. 

I know sharing this story of Jesus riding His white horse does not make this internet evil go away, but it does remind us to hope. 

We should all beware of evil because it is real. But evil does not win, and when we keep our focus on Jesus' return, the wide eyes will never look wider. 

***

Are you unfamiliar with this Momo character? Or the Momo Challenge? 

Take some time and educate yourself on how to protect your family and how to speak with your children, reminding them that you care. 

The more I am learning about how things like this can happen, the more discouraged I am from allowing my sons to be near the computer without my supervision at all. 

In a TED talk I recently listened to, the gentleman speaking said something to this effect:

Anyone can upload something to the computer. 

Anyone. 

And the content is unlimited. 

Once something is uploaded, or in the process thereof, the "author" or person publishing the video creates a title and some key words to help the content be seen. 

This is all governed by computers. 

Unfortunately for computers, they don't know real Mickey Mouse from Joe Schmoe's pornographic video titled, "Mickey Mouse's Playhouse", which means that, at some point, they will likely co-mix on some stream and little baby Johnny is watching Mickey save Santa in one instant, and Joe Schmoe dressed like Mickey and doing something totally wrong and unorthodox in another. 

Here is that video: 

Again with the diligence, the education, and the need to be proactive. 

As parents and guardians, we love our children so much and want to protect them. 

Here is a tangible way to do so.