The past few weeks have been filled with many heavy events and issues, along with some light-hearted ones. From terrorist attacks, to public body-shaming, to helping a homeless teen, to Pokémon Go... There's definitely plenty to discuss. Admittedly, society recently has made me want to crawl under a rock for a while. I'd like to focus on the newest game craze sweeping not only the nation, but the world: Pokémon Go.
When it comes to Pokémon Go, I have mixed feelings. Sometimes it intrigues me; I see posts about it on social media all the time, and I can't deny that it sometimes looks fun. However, after taking a minute to really think about it, I'm not a fan. I see the good that can come from it- people are getting outside more, they're exploring their surroundings, and they're connecting with groups of people they normally wouldn't even make eye contact with. That's all well and good, but it saddens me that we seem to need technology to get us to interact. I understand that Pokémon Go is intended to enhance our world, but shouldn't we be satisfied with what we have? We should want to take a walk outside and connect with others without feeling a need to enhance our surroundings. We should appreciate what we already have.
Unfortunately, that's our culture today; it's been engraved in us that we shouldn't and can't be happy until we have the next "best" thing. I'm already seeing people say, "There should be a Harry Potter version of this! There should be a Lilo and Stitch version to catch all the experiments!" Initially, these ideas sound fun. They'd allow the user to put themselves in the worlds that they admire. We need to go beyond the surface, though. It's okay to need a break from the world for a while- it's exhausting, especially right now. Breaks are okay every now and again, but we need to think of the long-term effects these virtual worlds have on us. First Pokémon Go, then possibly Harry Potter... what's next? Marvel, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars? They may provide temporary happiness, but they won't fulfill us deep down. One could argue that in moderation, these things are fine, which is valid. However, the more negative occurrences happen in society, the more we wish to escape, thus leading us to not deal with the issues at hand. Pokémon Go's servers have been down on multiple occasions due to so many people overloading the system. Sure, it's to be expected, as it's so new, but I don't see the hype dying down anytime soon.
As I mentioned before, there is good that comes from these types of games. However, I'm finding that the bad is currently outweighing the good. While a few people don't represent the majority, more and more undesired headlines regarding the game are popping up: people falling off of a cliff, being arrested for trespassing, and even quitting one's job to pursue the game full time. In fact, T-Mobile is now offering free unlimited data to play Pokémon Go for a full year beginning July 19. This is clearly more than just a game. It's being used to encourage consumerism. McDonald's is even making an effort to incorporate the game into their business to attract more customers. Granted, the game has helped attract people to churches, and could potentially be used to attract voters to voting booths. I refer to my original point, though: we should be voting, exploring, and interacting without needing the assistance of a video game. While the game openly urges users to be responsible and careful, that didn't stop a teen from being hit by a car while playing. As the teen's mother points out, “No game is worth a child’s life". Yes, the game itself is not responsible for the accident, but it's becoming more apparent that kids and young teens aren't making the right judgments, despite taking safety precautions. Additionally, the different teams in the game have created tense rivalries, and while efforts are being made to relieve those tensions, vandalism and hatred have resulted. While the game has indeed helped stop crime, is it worth all the damage it has done? The game leads many into downtown areas at night, leading to multiple instances of mugging, in places like Sydney, Australia, Englewood, New Jersey, and Lake Villa, Illinois. Other calamities include getting trapped in a cave, a man being stabbed, and other robberies. The game includes "pokestops"- specific locations where items desired in the game are free, mostly in important and cultural areas- which robbers can use to their advantage to know when to strike, and they can add beacons to pokestops to lure more people to the area.
A claim people have is "with so much bad going on, we should be glad people just want to walk around on their phones and escape this reality". Well... just because we have an overwhelming amount of evil happening, that doesn't mean we should compromise what we consider good. Regardless of what's going on in the world, we need to analyze the societal effects of this game. We're already addicted to technology; do we really need yet another game that keeps us glued to our screens? What's going to happen once school is back in session; are teachers going to have to deal with unruly students trying to catch Pokémon instead of focusing on their lesson? Are kids going to be tempted to leave school grounds at recess because they see a Pokémon across the street? My guess is yes. These questions may seem ridiculous now, but I'm thinking long-term here.
Children who start playing this game at a young enough age may develop a distorted image of reality. Granted, we need to do more research once the game has been out long enough for it to have a psychological effect on people, but children need to know that society isn't a game. It's not all about catching characters, and parents need to teach their children how society really is. The problem is, many parents aren't putting in enough effort, but that's a discussion for a different day.
While Pokémon Go does have its social upsides, I think we need to really educate ourselves on the world we already live in before we try to escape or enhance it. Knowledge is power, and being properly educated will help prevent future accidents and undesired occurrences from transpiring.
