Huggy Wuggy spawned from the Poppy Playtime App and encourages children to commit violent acts to themselves and others – Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan Police Chief.
In what news sites across North America have been calling a new disturbing trend, Huggy Wuggy has now come to our area.
He is originally cast as a villain in “Poppy’s Playtime”, a survival, horror game made for adults. Unfortunately, some of the actions which are encouraged by this character, have made it into the local school system.
Sault Ste. Marie Police Department – Michigan Chief Wesley Bierling, Sault Ste. Marie Police Department and Superintendent Amy Kronemeyer, Sault Area Public Schools (Michigan) released this joint statement today.
“Unfortunately, the online character “Huggy Wuggy” has come to our community. Huggy Wuggy spawned from the Poppy Playtime App and encourages children to commit violent acts to themselves and others.
“Huggy Wuggy demonstrates to children how to hug someone until “they can no longer breathe”. Huggy Wuggy convinces children that toys or objects are trying to cause harm. Some of the Huggy Wuggy videos depict alcohol and drug use as well as sexual assault and violence towards women.
Huggy Wuggy content can be found on Youtube, Tik Tok, and through online search engines. Though some Huggy Wuggy content is being removed and regulated but we encourage all parents to audit their kids App and online usage for Huggy Wuggy content.”
The post, made on their Facebook Page had many detractors, stating if you watch what your children are doing on social media, this shouldn’t be an issue.
However, another parent gave this response when confronting the “It’s made for adults” explanation.
“Yes it is from an adult video game, but the issue is that people are creating content on YouTube, tik tok, etc. using this character and those videos are what is telling kids to harm themselves or others,” said Mandy. “These videos are also making their way onto YouTube Kids, which is supposed to be heavily regulated. So even if you’re trying to use apps that limit what children can see or do, they can still come across bad videos. Hence why they put this statement out.”
Apps like mSpy, Norton, Qustodio and Eyezy are recommended by many cyber security companies across the internet as ways you can monitor your kid’s activities on the internet.
Stay with SaultOnline/ONNTV as we continue to follow this trend and others which may possibly harm individuals in our community.
