My speech

POKEMON GO NEEDS TO GO

Just yesterday I was riding my mountain bike up Mount Albert and I had to dodge random people, who were walking completely blindly playing Pokemon Go... It was like a zombie apocalypse! There have been many complaints from around the world about problems caused by “Pokemoners”, including here in New Zealand. BUT it hasn’t been banned here yet…

These are some examples of why pokemon go should be banned:

Firstly it's making young people vulnerable to strangers and dodgy characters when they are out hunting for Pokemon... Strangers claim to know where rare Pokemon are... and then try and get children to go with them to find it… This happened to a pair of young girls aged 9 and 13 in the Kaiapoi Library in North Canterbury.    

Following pokemon can lead you to places you didn’t intend to go to... For example two Canadian teenagers accidentally ILLEGALLY  crossed the border to america while following a Pokemon, and then were detained by U.S border guards while their mother was called to retrieve them... (and one thing I know is that those border guards that is they don’t mess around)

It’s so addictive that people take huge risks in their hunt for more... One young man was stabbed  in Oregon, America, after asking a stranger if he wanted to battle - assuming he was another Pokemoner... The stranger, NOT a Pokemoner, then stabbed him in the shoulder with a knife... But The young man was still SOOOO determined to “catch em all” he refused to get it treated and continued playing... (SERIOUSLY! who would do that? Is it really that important to catch em all?)

Back in NZ, Western Bay of Plenty head of road policing Sergeant Ian Campion is having trouble with POKEDRIVERS -  ignoring the road rules and common sense…..putting themselves and others at risk! Last week his staff dealt with a man using a cellphone while driving and his excuse was ‘he was chasing Pokemon’."

It seems like common sense to NOT play Pokemon go when you are driving, to LOOK where you are walking, to BE AWARE of stranger danger…..and maybe….just maybe NOT challenge strangers to battle when they might think it’s a real battle and have a knife in their pocket!

But that’s the problem, people get so addicted….and focused on “catching em all” that they forget their common sense.

Oh and I've got more bad news…….there's a new game coming out called NIGHT TERRORS….. but you have to play at night... in the dark………and “kill em all”  

SO

REMEMBER

KEEP

CALM

AND

DONT

PLAY

POKEMON

GO