EDITORIAL: Where’s Pikachu?

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new smartphone app sweeping the nation, and it actually encourages youngsters — and even 20- and 30-somethings — to get off their couches and get outside. Be active. Get some exercise. And can’t we all agree that Americans of all ages need more exercise?

But because the Nanny Staters continue their unfortunate advance, seeking to create a society in which nobody can ever get hurt or freely subject themselves to any level of risk, Pokemon Go is now being overscrutinized by the three helicopter P’s: parents, police and, worst of all, politicians.

Emily Zanotti of the website HeatStreet (heatst.com) reports there have been a handful of incidents among Pokemon Go players since the app was released July 6. Some players took the “Gotta catch ’em all” motto a little too seriously.

For instance, two California teens sustained injuries after falling down a cliff and had to be rescued by firefighters, and they could face charges. In addition, two teens in Toledo, Ohio, were arrested after jumping a fence into the city’s zoo and Los Angeles police are chasing off players who wander onto random neighbors’ lawns.

So here come the meddling politicians.

Ms. Zanotti details how New York Assemblyman Felix Ortiz — a Brooklyn Democrat already known for crusades against sugar, alcohol and more —may draft restrictions on Pokemon Go because it could have “tragic real-world consequences.”

U.S. Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, is more concerned about how much information Niantic — the company responsible for programming the augmented reality portion of the app — is collecting from its users, and what Niantic plans to do with that information.

In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, Lenore Skenazy, founder of the website Free-Range Kids, pointed out more absurdities.

New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton called the craze “one of the stupidest ones that I’ve seen,” adding that those who play Pokemon Go are putting themselves at “great risk.” A 15-year-old Pennsylvania girl playing the game, Ms. Skenazy reports, was hit by a car, suffering minor injuries along with some cuts and bruises. Said her mother: “Parents, don’t let your kids play this game. … No game is worth a child’s life.”

Ms. Skenazy notes that this same hysteria could be applied to injuries or dangers associated with snowboards, skateboards, rollerskates and bicycles.

Further, she satirizes, if the ball — rather than Pokemon Go — had been invented a couple of weeks ago, the reaction might go something like this: “What’s this crazy new bouncing sphere everyone’s suddenly obsessed by? It’s so pointless and dangerous! Kids are getting hit in the head by them! The thingamajigs roll into the street and children run after them! Let’s stop this ball fad before someone gets hurt.”

Pokemon Go may be a silly, faddish diversion. But the helicopter parents-police-politicians brigade is just plain inane. As Ms. Skenazy points out, Pokemon Go has gotten more kids off the couch than anything since the ice cream truck. In that sense, the game should be celebrated, not regulated. Let them play.