A new game, Pokemon GO, which has won millions of fans around the world today, is now available in Russia. If even adults find it difficult to resist cute pocket monsters, then what to say about children! Are the characters in the popular game harmless? What danger is a game in which two worlds - real and virtual - have merged for the younger generation? Let's hear the opinion of a child psychologist on this matter.
Not even 15 years have passed since the popular Japanese Pokemon series, so beloved by children at that time. After watching it, schoolchildren became fans of these monsters - posters, games? chips and stickers with images of favorite heroes were literally swept from store shelves.
Now, in 2016, Pokemon are conquering the world again, but now they have become the heroes of the popular game Pokemon GO. Surprisingly, not only children, but also adults - people with different social status and level of education become its adherents.
In the media, more and more often there are notes about children who, while searching for a Pokemon, ended up on the roadway, climbed to a height, entered a construction site, and got lost in the city, being carried away by the game. Although the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Roskomnadzor warn about the dangers of playing, the number of children who catch Pokemon is growing every day.
Pokemon - who are they?
Literally the word "Pokemon" translates as "pocket monster". These are cute animals with superpowers. Those who have played a similar game in the past had to achieve these goals:
- collect all Pokemon;
- develop their abilities by training characters.
In the old game, the winner was the one who gathered a whole army of monsters, hone their skills and tamed them. Having become the master of Pokémon, the player seemed to adopt their abilities, while feeling power and strength. There is a subtle psychological influence on the adherents of the game, thanks to which children fell into dependence on it.
Features of the new Pokemon GO game
A feature of the modern game is that two worlds literally intersect in it - the real and the virtual. To find your pocket monster, the player must wander the streets, looking at the screen of a tablet or smartphone and catch a Pokemon... The search is carried out in reality, and the tablet is the window to the virtual dimension. That is why there are more and more people on the street who move without taking their eyes off the screens of smartphones, risking falling, getting run over by a car and getting injured. To these strange actions they are prompted by the goal - to find their Pokémon.
After installing a free application on your smartphone, you need to register, and the game will require you to open access to the resources of your phone (camera, geolocation, photo album, and others) - only under this condition you will be able to play. Next, the system sends a message indicating the object in the real world where the virtual Pokemon is located. You can see it using the same smartphone. And so on.
All the classic elements of an addictive virtual game (excitement, competition, development, variety) are present here, while there is also a social element - the players may well meet in reality.
Why are Pokemon attractive to children?
When it comes to some pocket monsters, the thought of something unpleasant and creepy immediately arises. However, those who are far from the modern game think so. The developers gave the characters a pretty appearance and gave them funny names. This is why kids love Pokemon so much.... Let's get to know them better.
- Pikachu is a monster that looks like a mouse, which has the ability to accumulate an electrical charge concentrated in the cheeks of a Pokemon.
- Meowth is a cat monster.
- Slowpok is a pink Pokémon that resembles a sluggish hippo.
- Bulbasaur - There is a bulb on its back.
- Charmander is a Pokemon with a flame-shaped indicator tail. When the monster loses power, the flame is extinguished.
- Squirtle is the name of the turtle, which will eventually turn into a ninja.
- Chansey is a sweet and kind plump character with an egg that helps him when attacking.
- Jugliuff is a very vulnerable singing monster.
- Snorlax is a lazy pokemon that resembles a bear cub, his favorite thing is to sleep and eat.
These are not all Pokemon, but even the first glance perfectly demonstrates the seeming cuteness of these heroes.
Already at the first acquaintance, monsters do not seem angry and unpleasant, they cause a desire to make friends, because in their qualities they are similar to the people we have met in life. Sometimes they resemble ourselves. However, constant communication with their Pokémon allows them to develop into experienced fighters over time. Is this game really safe?
What are the dangers of Pokemon GO?
According to psychologists, this game is dangerous for children. But what is it?
- The main problem that psychologists especially highlight is the influence on the child's forming perception of the real world. In the game, it is viewed only through the prism of virtuality. The merger of two worlds in Pokemon GO can blur the boundaries between the present and fiction in children's minds, because their psyche is very vulnerable. The development of the child's mental abilities directly depends on the correct perception of the surrounding world.
- There is a risk of addiction to the gameplay, because in order to achieve results in the game, Pokémon need to constantly search, catch, educate, and take care of your Pokémon. Children who are addicted to catching monsters lose precious time that they could have spent on homework or companionship. The competitive spirit encourages students to play even more in order to stand out from their peers. As a result - a decrease in academic performance, a loss of interest in real life and activities.
- The first stage of the game looks harmless, but what happens next? No one knows what awaits the Pokémon, what fate the developer has predetermined for them. Perhaps your child, already trapped in an addiction, will become the master of evil and cruel characters who will need to kill their own kind? This prospect can be detrimental to the child's psyche.
- With the development of attachment, a change of priorities arises, when the favorite entertainment takes first place, and the word of the parents fades into the background. The child values the game so much that he is ready to fulfill any instructions of adults for the sake of it? Is it normal that he is ready to make sacrifices or to be obedient not out of respect and love for loved ones, but for the sake of permission to continue playing?
- The risk of injury while catching Pokémon is quite high - players are forced to quickly move around the city, peering at the tablet screen, not noticing what is happening in reality. During the gameplay, they fall, jump out onto the road where cars drive, collide with other passers-by, find themselves in unfamiliar places. In this sense, the game is dangerous for adults too. The foreign media cite cases when people, focused on the picture of the screen of their gadget, fell into the sewer manholes, were hit by a car, crossing the road, and so on. Cases are mentioned when teenagers climbed into completely impermissible and dangerous places, including guarded yards, construction sites, etc.
- Some game features are available for money. What does it cost children who do not know their value, but are eager to reach the next level as quickly as possible, by pressing the Buy button on the screen of their smartphone? This can be very costly for parents.
THE PSYCHOLOGIST SUGGESTS TO BANK CHILDREN TO PLAY POKEMON GO DUE TO DEPENDENCE
Pokemon Go can be addictive to drugs, so parents should prevent their kids from playing it. Clinical psychologist, health psychologist Mikhail Khors told the journalists about it.
“I would advise parents to prohibit their children from playing Pokemon Go,” said Horse.
At the same time, the psychologist emphasized that it is possible to protect yourself from virtual addiction only without downloading this game. “What you need to know about psychoactive substances and such psychoactive objects as a smartphone, the Internet, Pokemon, and so on? That all this can and does cause addiction. And I am sure that almost all those present here have used alcohol at some point in their lives, but not everyone will develop addiction. Consumption of the substance is a test whether addiction will develop or not, ”he stressed.
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What should parents do?
- First of all, we need to understand the game ourselves and understand what it is - when talking with a teenager, it is important to speak the same language. In addition, unfounded prohibitions such as "you can't, because I said so" are completely ineffective. You can, of course, deprive the child of all his gadgets, but when you bought them, did you understand that this is not just a phone or an e-book?
- So - do not want your child to play such games, do not buy modern gadgets for him. But seriously, it is important to prepare your child for possible risks, as in childhood you taught him to cross the road, remember?
- It is certainly not worth offering to install the application, but if this has already happened, explain the safety rules.
- Limiting the time of the game, not turning it on in high-risk places: when crossing the road, in public transport, in the subway, and even at school, you should not think about it yourself.
- Do not allow yourself to buy bonuses in the game, or consult with you - you are a source of funds.
- To be interested in the child's success in the game - this way you will receive, firstly, feedback: you will find out how much the child has been "pulled" and where he is with his Pokemon, and, secondly, build trust. At the same time, three things should be avoided: a mentoring tone, a categorical prohibition and excessive familiarity.
The question “what to do” here is most likely rhetorical. Free your children from Japanese monsters. Give them true reality back. Free their minds from someone else's control. The child is not a puppet in the skillful hands of the game developers. This is an independent person.
Rospotrebnadzor asked psychologists to check the game Pokemon Go - how do you like it?
Rospotrebnadzor asked psychologists and educators to check the game for mobile devices Pokemon Go, reports the Interfax agency with reference to the chief state sanitary doctor of Russia Anna Popova
General Director of Mostransavto Alexander Zaitsev asked Pokemon Go players to follow safety rules and not be distracted by smartphone screens at bus stops, bus stations and bus stations. Mostransavto recalled that while waiting for the bus, one should not go out on the road, and when boarding a vehicle, one should behave calmly and not try to enter at the moment when the doors are already closing.
In connection with the popularity of the game, Russian Railways also recalled that railway stations, platforms, railway crossings and stations are places of increased danger.
Roskomnadzor has already warned that the game has malicious versions that allow it to take control of the player's device, steal his personal data and monitor his movements. According to the service, criminals have already started using Pokemon Go: they place Lure Modules, which increase the chances of Pokemon spawning, in a certain place and ambush there.
State Duma deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Denis Voronenkov asked the Federal Security Service and the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media to completely ban the game in Russia. In his opinion, players can become participants in espionage or terrorist attacks.
Pokemon Go is an augmented reality mobile game based on the Japanese animated cartoon Pokemon. Players must find Pokémon in the real world, train them and participate in battles with other players' Pokémon.
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