Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Pokemon Go

Is anyone else a little proud yet freaked out by your kids' all encompassing knowledge of Pokemon?

Oh, yes, and the feeling has been going on for 15 years. DS#1 is 22. Now with Pokemon GO, DS#2, at 17, actually wanted to go with me on my runaround, and with DH and me on our walk in nature tonight. I kind of like this!

After reading about people falling off cliffs, driving into trees, getting hit by cars, etc. etc. due to their Pokemon obsession and associated idiotic behavior, we are avoiding it at all costs. Already deal with obsessive behavior when it comes to video games, last thing I need is more.

While middle kid is playing a lot (18 yr old) and she encouraged her older sister (20 yr old) to download the game, I expect the initial fascination with the game to die down. Youngest (11 yr old) has an older phone that will not support the game.

My older two watched a lot of the first few seasons of the show, so they recall a fair amount about the Pokemon, but DH and I are more freaked out by something else - how much we remember. Older two were 2 and 4 when the show started, and we watched those initial seasons over and over again on VHS tapes. The repetition must have worked that Pokemon "knowledge" into our long term memory, because we recall the evolution of various Pokemon better than the 18 year old.

DS11 is currently Pokemon obsessed and also heartbroken that he doesn't have a cellular phone to play Pokemon Go. I've considered installing the app on my own phone to allow him to play just a bit, but the security concerns have kept me from doing so.

DS's interest in GO stems from playing Pokemon TCG, though he has a hard time finding other kids his age as engaged in that game as he is. Most kids he meets at leagues are a bit older than him and the same seems to hold true with the current Pokemon Go phenomenon. He is watching every teenager and young adult we see in public these days to gauge whether or not they are looking for Pokemon. Its a little sad to know he feels very left out of all the fun.

Our boys don't have phones but I have it on my phone. We walk our neighborhood and local parks together catching them. It is ridiculously fun. I think using the app together in low traffic areas is pretty safe.

I have to say it has made the kids beg to go on family walks every night.

I got a kick out of trying to explain to my 92-year-old mom what all those kids were doing when we ran errands yesterday. Ages 8-20, nice to see kids outside!

My ds now 13 played a lot of Pokemon in the past. He liked Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh (TCG) better and Dungeons and Dragons (RPG). .

I have seen no interest in Pokemon Go yet.

My DS10 was already a big Pokemon fan and knows more than I ever could, so he has been using my phone to play. We have walked so much this week! But today, we haven't touched it. Too much other fun to be had, too. Still, I rather like the idea of getting out walking. We haven't been anywhere busy, like a downtown area, so we have to walk a lot, mostly around parks.

Evidently movie director Oliver Stone is, as revealed in this article by Chris Matyszczyak published online with CNET - Tech Culture on July 22, 2016: Pokemon Go lures us toward 'totalitarianism' says Oliver Stone. Is "another flame being lit beneath civilization's funeral pyre"?

Surveillance and data-mining are becoming ubiquitous.