Many (including me) have said that one of the great things about Pokemon GO is that it has gotten people out and moving more than they ever did. Unfortunately a recent study by the British Medical Journal is singing a different tune. Apparently about four weeks after the release of the app people went back to their couch potato ways, only playing the game when they would have been out moving anyway.
The study surveyed over 1100 American adults, half of them were Pokemon GO players. There was no significant difference between the two groups in the number of steps taken (automatically tracked by the phone) before and after the release of the game. There were some folks who started off walking a bit more because of the game, but the study shows that the trend tapered off to almost nothing after about six weeks.
What Parents Should Do.
An interesting note about this study. It didn’t include children. It is, of course, possible that kids were more active for longer because of playing Pokemon GO. There is no study to confirm it, however.
One of the major reasons that limiting screen time is a good idea is the inactivity overuse of technology can cause. When a game like Pokemon GO is released, parents may see a way out. They can give in and let their children play this game more often because it’s getting them up and moving. Well, if the study of the adults who played the game is any indication, we won’t be seeing many kids becoming more active and less out of shape because they’re trying to catch them all. Nothing beats old fashion creativity and time outside with friends.
If you have seen Pokemon GO players walking around you can see what all they’re missing. What good is getting up and around if you’re still just staring at your phone the whole time. Yes, parents and kids have been playing this game together and the connection of handing down the love of Pokemon to your children is a real thing. We just have to be careful when we use technology to replace something that was always meant to keep us and our children grounded in the real world.
You would normally look at a calculator app and not think anything of it but these apps will allow you to hide files behind a code that unlocks access when it’s entered into the calculator. In most of these apps, the calculator actually works as well. The best way to identify if your kids are trying to hide things from you with one of these apps is to look at it’s page in the app store. The description will mention the abilit
y to hide files. If you find that your kids have one of these apps on their smartphone or tablet I recommend you uninstall immediately.
The software store on Kindle simply didn’t have a password protection setting for their in-app purchases. This is what got them in to trouble. Children could log in to make purchases on these apps and there was nothing built in to stop them. Shortly after complaints started coming in, Amazon updated software to include a password and had already refunded money but the FTC said that wasn’t enough.