Does ABC’s Jim Avila Think Playing Phone Games at National Monuments Should Be Illegal?

About a month into the Pokémon GO hype, it’s clear that it has staying power the likes of which we may not have seen since Candy Crush. We already have a full page of stories about it here because Al Franken, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump have all mentioned it and at least one newscast was interrupted by someone playing.

Because the game takes place on a map that is representative of where the player is in real life, each user must walk around to find creatures, catch them, and do battle. That’s why there are so many stories of people going where they shouldn’t go. Over at BuzzFeed, though, Chris Geidner did a piece on what happens when Pokémon trainers go to places that they maybe should go. In particular, he focused on how many people play the game at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorial in Washington, D.C. His takeaway was that he saw hundreds of people who might not usually go to a monument and “if even a handful of them googled something about FDR this afternoon or tonight, that’s pretty cool[.]”

Here’s a response he got:

@chrisgeidner @BuzzFeedBen that should be illegal, already disrespectful

— Jim Avila (@JimAvilaABC) August 8, 2016

That’s ABC News’ Senior National Correspondent Jim Avila making the case that it should be illegal to play while at the monuments.

He got pushback that varied in its intended defenses:

@JimAvilaABC FDR is the Japanese internment guy so you should only be allowed to catch Pokemon at his memorial if you’ve pissed on it first

— RM Renner (@33mhz) August 8, 2016

@JimAvilaABC @chrisgeidner @BuzzFeedBen I think FDR would disagree. Plus gets kids to learn about the four freedoms.

— Melissa Byrne (@mcbyrne) August 8, 2016

He responded to a few people, claiming it was just a joke, but some didn’t believe him…

@JimAvilaABC pic.twitter.com/BXz327hcxa

— MAX IM A KOOPA (@meakoopa) August 8, 2016

…so the argument went on:

is the tired and hacky “millennials are disaffected and immature” hot take ALSO part of the ‘joke’ or… @JimAvilaABC

— MAX IM A KOOPA (@meakoopa) August 8, 2016

Sigh:

@tylerhower @chrisgeidner @BuzzFeedBen joke, unfunny is matter of opinion

— Jim Avila (@JimAvilaABC) August 8, 2016

Okay, guys. Your turn: Was it a joke or more of a sincere “get off my lawn” moment?

[image via screengrab]

Lindsey: Twitter. Facebook.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.