That new game out called Pokemon Go has thousands of people playing it! This game came out on Thursday and has gotten more people to go outside and exercise than Michelle Obama has been able to in eight years. The idea of the game is that you have to walk around in real life to catch Pokemon. This game has been downloaded by more than 7.5 million people in less than a week.
Overall this game is amazing, it's a great idea to have a video game that makes you active. The only downfall of it, is that it is not safe. People are going crazy for it. Someone jumped into a lake and almost drowned while playing. They wanted to catch the Pokemon so bad, they decided to jump in a lake at night and ended up not being able to get out.
This game is also causing multiple car accidents. People are so desperate to catch the Pokemon that they are driving while playing. I know that everyone wants to "catch 'em all", but come on people is it worth it to crash over a Pokemon? The sad part about this is that people who crash while playing the game, admit to playing it while driving and don't even seem to regret it. Upstate a guy was playing Pokemon while driving and he crashed into a tree. Below is a picture of the results of the crash. Was it really worth catching the Pokemon? This driver was very lucky to come out of this crash with very minor injuries and admitted to playing the game while driving. Please if you are playing this game realize how dangerous it is to play it while driving. Put your phone away while driving, don't risk your life over a game. It is NOT worth it.
Not only are people getting into car accidents, but they are also getting hurt in other ways, on their quests to "catch them all". People are falling off their bikes, falling into holes, getting extreme sun-burn, and falling into creeks. People are also trespassing into people's backyards and private property just to catch the Pokemon. People are even getting hit by cars, because they are not looking up from their phones to cross the street.
The other problem is that people are getting robbed while playing this game. People can track where you go, because of the "pokestops". Pokestops are actually stops in the neighborhood you are in, to get things for your Pokemon. Your location services are on on your phone and it could tell you where the nearest pokestop is. The problem with this is it is public and robbers and sexual predators can be waiting at the pokestop for someone to arrive. Many people have been robbed since this game came out. To prevent sexual predators, people have been trying to ban anyone who has a sexual predator record from playing this game. If you are playing this game, you should play it with groups of people to be more safe, especially if you are playing it at night. In the robberies that occurred so far the robbers were armed, so you need to be extremely careful while playing. Please play the game in groups.
Overall, this is an extremely addicting fun game. I am not saying that you should not play it. Just be careful and go out in groups and be mindful about dangerous possibilities, dress so that people can see you at night, and be aware of your surroundings. Don't Pokemon Go and Drive. If you do all of these things you will be fine. If you want a good place to go to play Pokemon, go to Argyle Park in Babylon. You will find many people playing there. Good luck, and Catch 'em All!
