Could playing Pokémon Go lead unsuspecting kids into the clutches of predators?
Pokémon Go continues to be a huge hit, especially with kids. Its ubiquitous presence in the hands of seemingly everyone on the street has resulted in players stumbling into areas that often present danger – as in the Pokemon Gym location we told you about that also happened to be a Hell’s Angels clubhouse.
Now, according to the New York Times, lawmakers in that state are worried the game has the potential to lead children to an even more frightening place: the homes of sexual predators. Senators Jeffrey D. Klein and Diane J. Savino sponsored a study that took a list of 100 registered sex offenders across New York City and compared it with locations where Pokémon Go stops an other landmarks.
The results were disturbing: in 59 cases, the Pokemon Go locations were within half a block of sex offenders’ homes. They also found 57 Pokémon appearing near the offenders’ homes. Similar overlaps in location have been reported in other states, including California and North Carolina.
In response to the findings, Klein, a Democrat, has proposed two pieces of legislation, scheduled to be introduced next week. The first would prevent moderate or high-risk sex offenders from playing augmented-reality games like Pokémon Go. And the second would require the games’ creators to cross-reference their virtual landscapes with lists of offenders’ homes and remove any “in-game objective” within 100 feet of them.
“When we open the door to technology, in many cases it’s very, very good, but we always have to be very, very concerned about the potential downside,” Mr. Klein said to the Times. “And I think this is certainly a very dangerous potential downside.”
The craze surrounding Pokémon Go has led to lots of odd episodes, including players’ finding dead bodies. In response, police have advised players to be aware of their surroundings, and officials have tried to balance the game’s appeal with warnings about trespassing. Lots of people, it should be added, have also pointed out the many benefits of the game in bringing people together.