Sun Flower Seed #2: Moral Panic

Many of us have seen moral panic but not all of us know what it means. Moral panic is a fear that something is threatening society. Karen Sternheimer the author of Media Phobia talks about moral panic and its relationship to parents. "These and hundreds of other stories nationwide imply that the media are a threat to children, and more ominously, that children are subsequently a threat to the rest of us" stated Sternheimer. Parents are often the creators of moral panic because they feel as though they must protect their kids. We firmly witnessed this is class with both the Dungeons and Dragon panic and the "Momo Challenge". 

Dungeons and Dragons began to become a moral panic because one person who played it went missing and instead of finding the exact reason for his disappearance they linked it to the game he had begun playing, Dungeons and Dragons. The media had released that he had been playing that game and it left all the parents in a freak to protect their children by not allowing their children to play the game. This is an example of moral panic because the game itself had no threat to society but because of the media and parental influence the fear became real and spun out of proportion. There was absolutely no correlation between the game and the missing player. The "Momo Challenge" was also a similar incidence "Momo" a Japanese sculpture hit social media and almost instantly evolved into moral panic. People had begun a rumor that "Momo" was out to get their kids which was absolutely not the case. Media also got a hold on to the talk of  "Momo" and begun to warn parents about children's access to the threat that "Momo" was linked to and discussed how if children were watching Youtube "Momo" might make an unannounced appearance. This was all exaggerated fear because "Momo" is just a sculpture but because of parents fearing for their children's safety it evolved into something much bigger than it ever should of. Moral panic is a real thing but its only real if we let it exist.