By Joshua Smith, Special to The Trussville Tribune
The sidewalks of Trussville abound with the foot traffic of Pokémon Go players. The public library’s parking lot is filled, long after it’s closed. Children are begging parent’s to take them to church, parks, trails, and museums. I imagine a Trussville at a time when such observations were not unusual. I see Andy Taylor taking his boy Opie down to the fishing hole on the Cahaba… Of course for many households, this was long before personal computers, cell phones, video games, and the many other technological distractions that now fill our daily lives. For those who are reading this and thus “on the grid,” life has become a struggle to balance the benefit vs burden of our digitally connected and sometimes physically disconnected society.
Pokémon Go is the current distraction, and it will fade. However, its concept may have implications much greater than the developers ever envisioned. Kids who normally hibernate indoors are (1) exercising (2) socializing (3) discovering their surroundings and most significantly (4) potentially making lifelong habits of these activities. While Pokémon go isn’t the most ideal way to accomplish these things, it’s happening. And for parents who choose to embrace the benefit—Go with them.