One Family's Take on Pokemon Go

Pokemongo.com

People who know me know I don't play video games. It isn't because I don't like video games, it's because I don't see well and I get motion sickness when playing anything done in first person. On a recent Saturday morning my wife and I were sitting down at breakfast with my in-laws and they all had their phones out playing Pokemon Go while we were together.

There has been a lot of press about how people are becoming so involved with this game that it's causing problems. However, their phones sat there, were checked on occasion, and we had a good family get-together. The parents and two of their five children were there and so I asked them about the game and why they enjoy playing it.

They have always been a tight knit family and have done many things together, more than my upbringing would ever consider reasonable. Both parents work and their children are in high school or older.

The discussion started was with the parents and two of their daughters, one is in high school (not the youngest) and the other is attending college. There were a couple of things about the game they agreed on. There is the aspect of collecting the Pokemon, which is a big part of the game, and the training. They have started a competition between the siblings on who can collect the most, and the widest variety.

They mentioned they like where the game was taking them. In tracking down the Pokemon they have gone to parks and other locations they may not have seen otherwise. As a family, or subdivisions of the family depending on who was available, they have been taking outings to new places where they had not been before. Visiting the Pokemon sites they have also been learning and developing new interests.

Instead of just looking for Pokemon through their phones they have looked at the world around them. A number of the places they have visited have some other significance associated with them. When looking around they have found plaques and memorials along with some unique scenery. What they have come across has sparked discussion about what they have found and a new interest in their community.

They also expressed personal interests in what they are getting from playing the game.

The elder daughter explained to me how the game requires a person walk, run, or ride a bike to hatch an egg. Half-jokingly she told me how this has gotten her boyfriend up and out of doors so he could find out what Pokemon his egg was going to hatch. Not only is it giving them exercise, but it is also giving them time together outdoors instead of sitting and studying.

The father of this clan also had his thoughts on what was good about playing Pokemon Go—it has allowed the family to come together. Many times we hear how families become fragmented because everyone is off doing their own thing, running in different directions as they pursue their own lives. He told me how they have made family outings to go find Pokemon as a group. They travel together, work together, and have fun together. Some of the outing are close by, but they have taken a couple of day-trip adventures. I thought this was a great idea. Their children are older, but what a thought of planning something the family can do, that draws the interest of younger children and provide the opportunities of learning and seeing new things.

There will always be detractors on a game like this. There will always be detractors of pretty much what anyone decides to do. There are also going to be people who become overly serious about what they are doing; anything can become an obsession. Here at breakfast were four people who were sharing time together, partially because of a video game. The girls weren't sure if they would have come to breakfast or not, but they mentioned there was something nearby as part of the game that got them out of bed on a Saturday morning. When they arrived one had set a lure in the parking lot and they were having a good time the old people as they waited to see if something would show up.

Games can have a positive influence on who we are. In a time when a game is getting all sorts of publicity for getting people hurt it was nice to hear how this family was using it for family and personal growth.

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