The hype around this new game annoys me... I mean it’s pretty cool don’t get me wrong. It’s bringing people together in a weird way, but it’s also distracting.
Growing up I didn’t have a cell phone. There was no Facebook, and real Pokémon cards were more important than texting a person that was sitting right next to me.
I’m a 90’s baby, so I’m not too much older than the kids who are playing this game on their phones, but cell phones weren’t important to me. I wanted to go outside and run around. I wanted to do cartwheels outside in the yard on my grandmother’s block. Back then it was ok to leave your bicycle unattended knowing that no one would take it. We used to play double-dutch on the side of the street and stay mindful for cars as they passed by. The real fun was playing tag and waving down the ice cream truck making them think we wanted to buy something, when in reality we didn’t have enough money. The days were things were easier.
You could go to the corner store and buy 50 cent worth of candy and strawberry cookies and still have change left for tomorrow. The days were it was safe to walk to and from school alone without worrying a stray bullet or car would hit you. The newer generation has no clue about fun. Real fun that is. I see children in restaurants with their entire family playing video games on their handheld systems instead of coloring on the children’s menu. It’s distracting them from the word around them. If you’re at dinner than enjoy it. Parents nowadays use technology to shut their children up in public instead of really parenting and using proper discipline. Every child has a cellphone in this day and age. Every child has the newest game system and play inappropriate games that promote shooting, stealing, and lying to win. There is no one on one action. The only time they interact with others is by asking what games do they have on their phone, or wanting to know if you got Squirtle to evolve. This is not teaching them the ways to communicate effectively with other individuals. We are all walking around with our head and hands attached to some kind of social media and gaming. There are people driving and trying to catch an imaginary figure, and walking into major busy streets without looking for cars. This doesn’t make any sense to me, because there’s so much more going on in the world to care about and even to look at.
Even the adults are participating in some way. New parents constantly take photos and videos of their kids to the point the kid knows to look at the camera at themselves. It’s like they’re planting the seed early and letting the kids take their phones and play games on them instead of enjoying the outdoors and being a kid.
Maybe people should take the time to really absorb the true meaning of fun without some form of technology, and be thankful for it. Understand that those tangible things come and go. Eventually that game will be out of style just like: Words With Friends, Angry Birds, Flappy Bird, (even the Drake version of it), Ruzzle, Candy Crush, and Guess The Emoji. It’s not what’s really important. Enjoying real life is important. Spend time outside of your own self and communicate with others. Discuss the current issues in the world and have effective conversations with people. Be a human being.
