What is Pokémon Go?

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Pokémon Go is a very creative game! Using augmented-reality, the game displays all the favorite Pokémon characters on your screen with background of where you are in the real world, from your camera, giving the impression that they’re standing in front of you.

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Players catch, collect, battle, and trade pokemon. But you can't stay still. You have to physcially go to where pokemon are located. This often means walking around and even going to specific places that have bonus rewards and rare pokemon.

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It's great fun and it gets kids outside!

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What do Parents need to know about Pokémon Go?

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Activity is required – this might be what I like best. You have to get out and adventure in the real world to engage with characters. We love this!

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Addiction is real – some people just can’t stop playing and will continue playing while doing other things that require their attention (like driving).

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Trespassing – too many stories of kids venturing into dangerous places just to catch the elusive Pokémon.

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Strangers are there – Players can joins teams to partner with otehrs for group events. Some gameplay and rewards require a team. This can be with friends or strangers. Because team members may not be real-life friends, kids must understand privacy expectations.

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Pokémon Porn – Yes, whatever people are searching for, the porn industry will always jump on board with their own distortion. Due to the initial popularity of the app, pornographers jumped on board to make a bunch of inappropriate Pokemon characters, hoping to hook an unsuspecting person. If a child is performing a Google search for Pokémon, a parent should be involved and have safe search enabled.

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No unfiltered web access that we can find – if you discover a “hidden doorway” to the Internet through the app, please let me know. If none exists, this is a very good thing! Even the Bible app has a doorway to Twitter and Facebook (and tons of porn) without ever leaving the app.

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How to Make PokemonGo Safer:

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Regardless of the app, three actions mitigate the risks we’ve shared. We teach these actions in our parent presentations:

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1. Require approval for all app downloads.
2. Follow the 7-Day Rule
3. Enable in-app controls and settings

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We explain each of them briefly below. If you’ve already set up approvals for downloads and have used the app, please skip to the In-App Controls & Settings.

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Require Approval for App Downloads

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You can control app stores by requiring permission for apps to be downloaded. This is ensures your child doesn’t have access to an app without your knowledge. Here are the steps (for Apple and Android users):

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For Apple Devices:

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To require permission to download an app, you’ll need to set up Screen Time and Family Sharing (Apple’s Parental Controls). We explain this process step-by-step in our Complete iOS Guide (click here).  

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Once Screen Time and Family Sharing are established, here’s how to require permission to download apps on an Apple device:

1. Go to your Settings app.
2. Select your Family.
3. Select the person you want to apply this setting to.
4. Scroll down to “Ask to Buy” and enable.

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For Android Devices:

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You’ll have to use Family Link (Android’s parental controls) to ensure you retain control over what apps are downloaded. We explain this process step-by-step in our Android Guide (click here).

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Once Family Link is established, here’s how to require permission to download apps on an Android device:

1. Go to the Family Link App
2. Select the person you want to apply this setting to.
3. Select “Google Play Store”
4. Select “Purchases & download approval” and set it to “All Content.”

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Follow the 7-Day Rule

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This is our tried-and-true method of determining whether a specific app is safe for your specific child.

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Before you let your child use it, download the app and use it for 7 days.

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Create an account with your child’s age and gender and use it for 7 days. Play through a few levels, review the ads, see if anyone can chat with you, and poke around like a curious child.

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After a week, ask yourself, “Do I want my child to experience what I did?”  Even if you decide to allow them to download the app, now you have a basis for curious conversations about the app when you check in.

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Enable In-App Controls & Settings

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Parental Controls have arrived! In partnership with SuperAwesome, there is a Niantic Kids dashboard that parents can log into from their child’s device, giving them extra monitoring control over young players.

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Bottom Line – Is Pokémon Go Safe?

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Young players should be in a group. Everyone should be aware of the risk of sharing location information that could be used to do harm. But, it gets kids out and moving, which I love. With the right parental prep, it looks like a winner. Fun and active!

What if I have more questions? How can I stay up to date?

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Two actions you can take!

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1. Subscribe to our tech trends newsletter, the PYE Download. About every 3 weeks, we’ll share what’s new, what the PYE team is up to, and a message from Chris.
2. Ask your questions in our private parent community called The Table! It’s not another Facebook group. No ads, no algorithms, no asterisks. Just honest, critical conversations and deep learning! For parents who want to “go slow” together. Become a member today!

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