This article has been updated for 2023.  It’s been seven years since Pokémon GO became all the rage. And even though the peak of it’s popularity is long gone, it is estimated that there are still an average of 79 million monthly users.  Later in this post we’ll look at specific online safety regarding this popular augmented reality game.  But first, let’s explore the obvious…

As new technologies and trends continue to emerge, we should know by now not to rule anything out. Who would have thought a few years ago that a game on your phone would bring game lovers outside to play, and exercise. This is a good thing.  At the very least those playing the game are putting in a lot of extra steps walking while breathing in fresh air. Others are running as their virtual reality leads them into the great outdoors.

Pokémon GO – Physical Gamer Safety

Now, here’s where the discussion of gaming safety comes in regarding the unique platform and that delivers Pokémon GO. There have been reports of minor injuries due to users not paying attention to their surroundings while playing the game. It can be as simple spraining an ankle while loosing your footing off a curb, or falling and landing on your elbow.

There is a verified news story about two young men who fell off a small cliff and had to be rescued. To be clear, they climbed a fence to access an area not open to the public which led them into harms way.

Now, we will say it again! The fact that people are venturing outside and getting some exercise is a very good thing. Sitting on your couch and doing nothing over a lifetime will quite frankly – shorten your life.  Bumps and scrapes are a normal part of a healthy active lifestyle. But we would also say that when caution and care is put into the equation, there are fewer broken bones.

We’ve mentioned walking and running, and we can take that to the next level for hikers, but what about biking? One of our writers saw a young boy was playing Pokémon GO in their neighborhood while riding his bike. Parents are diligent in telling their teens not to text and drive, now you’ll also need to warn them about the dangers of riding their bike one handed while searching for Pokémon on their phone..

… and yes, NO driving while playing Pokémon GO either.

Initial reviews of the video game include comments that it’s very easy to get lost in the game to the point where kids, teens and adults alike, pay less and less attention to the ‘real’ world around them.

The moral of the story? Get outdoors, YES! Have fun, YES!  Anything that encourages any member of society to ‘get active’ is indeed a positive thing, much like Wii Fit was first launched. But when you go outside, don’t leave common sense at the door.

Online Safety Concerns about Pokémon GO

Pokémon GO is indeed an online game and offline game.  There are physical hazards, where players can be so engrossed in the game that they become very unaware of their surroundings.

Now let’s shift to the main common concerns about the online portion of the game, which goes beyond becoming glued to your smartphone screen as you explore a revolutionary game that is played in the real world.

Pokémon Go is a location-based game

To play Pokémon GO, kids need to explore their natural surroundings.  And because other players are doing the same thing, it can often lead to encounters with other players. Parents should educate their children about the importance of personal safety and the potential risks associated with interacting with strangers.  Some of these players may be kids that are much older or even adults.

Privacy Concerns

Pokémon Go collects location data and requires access to a player’s device and camera. Parents should review and understand the game’s privacy policy and discuss the implications with their children. Teach children how to safeguard their personal information and being cautious about sharing details or images with others.

Excessive Screen Time

One of the most covered topics online related to any computer game or app is the amount of time people spend looking at a screen.  Pokémon GO can be addictive, leading to excessive screen time and potential negative impacts on physical activity, sleep patterns, and overall well-being.

The old adage used to be “get off your devices and go outside and play”.  With games emersed in augmented reality, kids are getting outside and running around while looking at their screens.  A balanced lifestyle means settings limits to smartphones in general, or video games for the avid gamer, and encouraging outdoor play, exploring hobbies, and conversing with friends.

The Dangers of Smartphone Use and Walking

Zombies are invading the world!  Yes! There is a worldwide outbreak—of zombies. Germans calls these shuffling, bent creatures “Smombies,” a word made by joining two words: zombie and smartphones. Smombies are the people you see walking around with their eyes on their smartphones and not on the road ahead.

Each year, hordes of people are hurt by bumping into objects, falling into pools and getting hit by bikes and vehicles.

Innocent drivers who can’t avoid these zombies suffer from the trauma of hurting others. Older and disabled people walking down the street don’t move fast enough to avoid zombies and are commonly bumped and injured.

And this isn’t just taking place in your neighborhood. Zombies are a problem around the world.

In Seoul, South Korea, the city’s transportation department put up signs that show people using smartphones walking into cars. The signs are meant to remind people how dangerous walking can be when they don’t pay attention. The problem is that people must look up from their smartphones to see the signs.

Germany officials put bright strips of LED lights right in the sidewalk. This was done to keep people from walking into city trains. These lights have also been used in sidewalks in the Netherlands. Many people don’t like this idea, because it makes zombies feel that they don’t have to pay attention to the world around them.

In Austria, officials put airbags around lampposts to keep zombie tourists from smashing into them as they walk through the streets looking at their phones.

The city of Chongqing in southwest China has tried to solve this problem by making two walking lanes. One is for people who are not using smartphones as they walk. The other is for people walking with their heads down.

Honolulu, Hawaii, has passed a law making it illegal to enter a crosswalk while you are looking at your smartphone. People who step out into traffic with their eyes on their phone face huge fines.

Because of all the traffic accidents caused by zombies with their phones, Brazil has older ladies helping young smartphone addicts cross the street safely.

All around the world, zombies—or smombies, if you prefer–put themselves and other people in danger. You can help stop the invasion. The same goes for kids playing Pokémon GO outdoors and not watching where they are walking.  Remember this: a smartphone weighs about 4 ounces. A car can weigh about 80,000 ounces. When they hit each other, who do you think will win?

Now, look up.

Here you can search for safe videos from a variety of kid friendly websites. Our safe video search engine delivers filtered and screened videos from a variety of sources including YouTube. You can search for these videos using the safe search tool above.

KidzTube Video Search is designed for kids in grades K-8, however, teens and even adults still enjoy using it. Each safe video included is carefully reviewed by educators for both learning quality, safety, engagement factors, production quality, and other items.

Safe YouTube

Only the “best of the best” videos make it – the most safe videos from YouTube and other video platforms.  This means that anything a child watches will have value to it.

We even take our “fun” videos section seriously in terms of delivering quality wholesome entertainment. This is very different from a typical experience on YouTube or other video sites where just about anything, including very inappropriate “r-rated” or worse videos often surface.

Furthermore, most videos on YouTube are not screened for educational quality, so kids might be learning incorrect facts.

On a near daily basis, videos on KidzTube get submitted by people in the education field that work with us. You can access these videos by using the video search tool at the top of our website. We also have strategic partnerships with some of the best teaching resources, like Khan Academy, to get early access to their content.

Safer Videos

Once a video is approved for inclusion and passes all our tests, we carefully categorize it in the appropriate subjects and subcategories. This helps to ensure better search results and improved related video content during browsing.

Created by KidzSearch, it as has over 30,000 safe video titles and the video library keeps growing each week. After all, kids need to have some fun too as a way of encouraging them to come back and keep learning things in our educational library.

One way we achieve this is by providing reviewed safe videos in areas such as music videos (designed for kids), movies/tv shows for kids, magic tricks, arts/crafts, cute animal videos, quality non-violent cartoons, toy reviews, and sports.

Safe Video subject areas include:

• English
• Fine Arts
• Health
• Math
• Science
• Technology
• Social Science
• History and more.

KidzTube is more than a safe YouTube alternative.  Our related videos software carefully mixes relevant educational videos with our fun content to help guide kids towards learning new concepts that they might otherwise never explore. For example, a cartoon that features lasers might have an educational video that talks about how lasers work next to it for viewing.

In addition, you’ll find content dealing with emotional health issues that are very important to kids in our Psychology and Motivational videos section. These videos all teach very important concepts that all children should learn to be better students and to get along better with other kids.

Each and every video on KidzTube has our quality of approval seal on it, so you can be certain that it will be safe, educational, and enjoyable for kids to watch.

Best of all, our content is 100% free to watch and works on desktop, mobile tablets/phones, and in our KidzSearch App available for Android, Apple iOS, and Amazon Kindle devices.

Video Search Alternatives

YouTube continues to be the dominate platform and search engine for videos.  We encourage the use of our video search tool to ensure all videos are educational, as well as filtered through a robust screening system to ensure safety. This is idea for schools.

As kids get older, they are going to want to be on YouTube.  Parental monitoring and supervisions by teachers in the classroom will be a key factor in maintaining safety online.  At the very least, set up parental controls for Youtube should your children or students leave our website and search for videos on other video platforms.

One step up in safety when searching for videos is YouTube Kids, which a different app dedicated for kids which has more suitable safer video content for children.

Once upon a time… kids would have to go outside to play a game with friends, get up to change the TV channel manually, and would have to walk 3 miles to school—uphill, both ways. A little further down the road, kids have access to newfangled technology and their parents are struggling to keep up with it all.

If you’re the parent of a teenager (or even an almost-teenager, tween) you may already be familiar with the pressure but still the the numbers are still shocking:

• A whopping 77% of teens (between the ages of 12 and 17) own a cell phone.
• Furthermore, 56% of tweens (ages 8 through 12) own a cell phone!
• 75% of teen drivers admitted to texting while driving.
• 28% of teens admitted to sending inappropriate pictures via text.
• A large group of parents were asked what age would be appropriate for a child to get their first cell phone. 22% of those parents felt that 10 was a good age!

So if you haven’t been asked the following question yet… get ready, it’s coming very soon.  There are a lot of options regarding phones for kids to ease them into the world of cell phone use. You may even want to do some research before you hear that inevitable request:

“Mom/Dad, Can I Have a Cell Phone?”

In all honesty, it becomes harder and harder to say no. We all remember being on the other end of “but everyone else has one!” and how frustrating it felt when your parents didn’t understand. So, we try to understand because we remember feeling excluded from their generation, and we don’t want to put our kids through that same torture.

Most parents will set forth ground rules similar to giving a child a puppy (remember when that was what they wanted?!). Here’s a sample:

Cell Phone Contract for a Teenager:

• I do not own this phone. My parents are awesome, and they are giving me the privilege of using this phone.
• Nothing is free. This phone, and the ability to use it, costs money. I will work hard to earn this privilege.
• (Prepaid phones / limited texts are a good idea for teenagers.) I will not exceed my limit for monthly calls or texts.
• I will take care of my phone. If I break it, I have to replace it. If I lose it, I have to replace it.
• I will adhere to all instruction on how to use my phone safety.
• I will never use this phone in an inappropriate way.

More specifically, I will never use this phone to:

Send a mean or hurtful text. If I have a disagreement with somebody, we will talk face to face.

Talk or text after 9 PM.

Have inappropriate text conversations.

Send or receive inappropriate images.

Follow policies regarding cell phone use in school.

Talk or text while driving.

If I decide to put a lock screen on my phone, my parents will know the password or code. My parents will have access to all of my phone call history and text message history.

{Parents} agree to respect my privacy and will only use their rights of access if I have shown suspicious behavior.

I understand that this phone may be taken away if I am on it too much, or if I express negative behavior including talking back or failing to keep up with my chores.

If my grades drop, I will lose this phone until I have brought my grades back up.

If my phone has the ability to surf the internet, I will use a Safe Search Engine.

These are sample items that you may use or modify to create a cell phone contract with your teenager. However, it doesn’t stop there.

As parents of a teenager with a smart phone, you are responsible for:

• Restricting the amount of time your teenager spends on his or her phone. This includes calls, texts, and data usage.
• Encouraging activities that will draw your child or teenager back into the “real world” so (s)he is more attentive of his or her surroundings.
• Understanding the features on your child’s phone so you can answer questions and offer guidance.
• Updating the privacy settings on your child’s phone.
• Understanding how your child is using their phone, so you can keep an eye out for suspicious behavior.
• Enforcing the rules.

In the end, you are the parent. Unless your teenager has a job and is paying for his or her own phone and phone bill, you should have full control over the situation. Don’t be afraid to put your foot down and revoke– or deny– the privilege until your teenager shows full responsibility on their end.

Safe Internet Use on Smart Phones

*The ability to browse the internet (for tweens and teens that have access to the internet on their cell phone) opens up an entirely new area of safety concerns. Not only can kids search the web more discreetly, most parents do not view this activity as of much of a risk as they do allowing their kids to search on a regular computer. The fact is, the dangers are just as real and even worse when you consider that with a smart phone, kids can search the internet outside of the watchful eye of parents while using their cell phone in school.

We have a safe search tool for kids. It is an app version of safe search for phones that automatically ensures safe search is on.

Download the KidzSearch app for iOS devices or Android devices.

KidzSearch also available on Kindle Fire / Amazon.

Having your tweens and teens agree to use this version of search will automatically ensure safe filtering is always on. That said, you still need to set up guidelines that allow you to view history on their phone when needed, as well has having them promise to not delete their history knowing you may look at it.

An open conversation about all of these issues is vital to instilling responsible behavior from kids of all ages. To explore internet filtering with more parental controls, which can also be activated on smart phones, explore internet filtering software.

Talking to teens about internet safety can often be frustrating, especially if they pretends to listen, giving one word responses at the right times. For that reason, the first tip for talking to a teenager (about anything) is to make it a routine.

If you truly want to have meaningful two-way conversations on a variety of topics, including the short term and long term concerns of posting pictures online, laying the proper ground work is essential.

Open Conversation About Posting Pictures

It can be weekly, or monthly, or as often as every day after dinner. Families that “enforce” open conversations are more aware of what’s really going on with every family member, and that’s important. Discussions about online safety for kids doesn’t have to (always) center around extremely sensitive, awkward, uncomfortable, or otherwise personal topics. In fact it will feel easier to talk about anything when your family has a routine of open conversation.

Some general guidelines to follow include:

• The dinner table is a good place for casual family conversation about almost anything, but avoid topics that are too personal or uncomfortable while eating. Use these times as a good starting point to learn what your kids think and feel about various topics.

• Open conversation should take place in a relaxed and comfortable environment. However, nobody should be distracted… and that means you should not have open conversations while driving or with the TV on.

• During open conversations, everybody should have their cell phone off or in another room. This includes you!

• Give your teenager your undivided attention. Ask open ended questions that can’t be given a short answer. Wait for an answer, and listen.

Above all else, having an open mind as a parent is crucial. Your teenager must feel comfortable talking to you, without fear of repercussion, or she will only give you the parts that she feels are safe to tell you.

Be Easy to Talk To

It’s frustrating when you try to talk to a teenager who won’t say much to you, but is always texting on their phone. Surely she has something to say… why are they so aloof with you?

Before you go blaming the phone, ask how difficult it might be for your teenage daughter or son to get your undivided attention. Remember that you have a lot on your mind too, so sometimes you might be too distracted and equally difficult to talk to.

Then there is the parenting style you follow. Parents who say “No, because I said so” are less easy to talk to then parents who say “No, because {explanation}.” Although your teenager is still a child in your heart, you are still raising a person who has reached a point of independence that you aren’t happy about. It shows, but there is nothing you can do to keep her a baby forever.

Make Them Laugh

The tough conversations are even tougher with a teenager. Teens know that babies aren’t brought by a stork, and at least one of their peers probably already has one on the way. When having a tough conversation with a teenager, you want to contribute information from a different perspective while also gaining an understanding of where they are coming from.

While being a good listener, you must also understand that this conversation is a million times tougher for your son or daughter to be having with you. Consider how awkward you feel bringing it up, and multiply it by infinity.

The most helpful thing you can do is set the tone to ease their discomfort. Use humor to make them laugh (but not humor that will only make her more uncomfortable!) and your child will be more likely to relax and open up to you.

Talking About Posting Pictures Online

This might come as a shock to you, but many teenagers can be reckless with the photos they post online. This is particularly true of girls. They want so badly to be seen as mature adults—and as attractive females—that they will share pictures of themselves that are various levels of inappropriate.

Did you know that pictures you share online can be traced to your location, even if you don’t tag it on Facebook? (You can start with that too, maybe even share an article that talks about how location services in smart phone cameras place a stamp that can be used by computer-savvy web users to find out where a person is located.)

The important thing is not to go through your teenagers’ social media page without her permission and comment on pictures belonging to her or her friends. (A teens privacy on Facebook is up to each parent’s discretion and it may be as easy as ‘being friends’ with your kids on Facebook so they know you expect a certain standard of conduct). Raise awareness about various issues regarding social media and plant the seed of a new perspective.

Note:  It is perfectly okay to inform your daughter that her genuine smile is much more beautiful than “duck lips”.

The point is that you aren’t entirely in charge of the conversation and shouldn’t try to stick to one point. Encourage your daughter to participate by asking her opinion on inappropriate pictures (where does see the line drawn?) or finding out what she knows about geotagging.

Rather than taking the cliché paranoid parent approach, talk about posting pictures online as a casual conversation. You’ll get the answers you want, and it will give you both a chance to learn from each other.

Pictures Never Lie

Pictures say a thousand words, or so the saying goes. And pictures never lie. However, a picture posted in the wrong context and twist the truth. News stories on television and the Internet are not complete without an image and personal profiles seem empty without a selfie. People trust a picture. But should they?

You can get a better understanding of how editors and website managers pick images by performing a simple experiment.

Take out your phone and turn on the camera. Set it to record a selfie video. Then take a moment, prepare, suck in a breath and record yourself singing the national anthem.

Put your heart into it. Sing with strength and feeling. Then save the video and take a bow.

Now sit down. Pick an emotion: anger, love, envy, shock, happiness, sadness. With the emotion you decided on in mind, watch the video. When you see an image of yourself that matches the emotion you picked, pause the video.

If you were making a post on your social media page about your emotion, you could use that picture to show how you felt. But you know that the picture is simply one note sung from the national anthem.

Posting Pictures on Social Media

Again, thinking about your social media page, go through the video, imagining which screen capture you would use as a profile picture. Some images show you with your eyes half-closed. Some show you with your mouth open like a fish.

If you were being mean to yourself, you would post the pictures that make you look like you just woke up.  Using advanced photo shopping software, you can enhance your photos before posting them online.

That happens every day in editorial offices. Public figures like your favorite singers, movie stars and government officials are always being photographed or caught on video.

If an editor wants to show that singer, star or official looking funny or heroic or attractive or strange, all he or she has to do—is pick the right picture.

Like you singing the national anthem, every person in the public eye can be seen with eyes half-closed or looking angry or strange.

Some editors use photo shopping software to make people appear the way the editors want them to look.

Editors of fashion and celebrity magazines are notorious for changing faces, slimming down figures or smoothing rough spots on the celebrities they like.

There are many famous people you probably wouldn’t know if you met them on the street because all of the pictures you’ve seen of them have been changed.

Pictures never lie?

Maybe the photographs don’t lie, but sometimes the people who pick the photos do.

Read how to post photos safety online – Part 2 Updated.