Marco Polo & Screaming Kids

What is the deal with kids in a swimming pool screaming "Marco Polo" back and forth at each other?

I first experienced this about 10 years ago at a horrible Six Motel in a dismal border town in Arizona, called Douglas. The Six Motel sat next to a former motel that had been converted into a makeshift prison, surrounded by concertina wire. I think a lot of the people staying at the rundown Six Motel were staying there so they could visit inmates next door.

I could not hear the kids in the pool from my room. But as soon as I opened the motel room's door I started hearing Marco Polo being yelled back and forth. I walked by the pool and watched and listened from above. There seemed to be no point, besides taking turns screaming Marco Polo.

Move forward a decade. I'm around a lot of swimming pools in Texas. I've heard a lot of Marco Poloing. About 5 years into my Texas exile I was told there is some sort of legit Marco Polo game played in swimming pools. A sort of waterborne version of tag. However, I've never seen this actually played.

All I've ever heard and seen is kids screaming Marco Polo back and forth at each other for no noticeable game purpose. I figure at some point in time some kids somewhere saw some kids playing the actual Marco Polo game, but didn't understand it. So they morphed the game into just screaming Marco Polo back and forth til they get bored with it. And then other kids saw those kids doing that and did that themselves.

Who knows how far this aberrant behavior has now spread. It needs to stop.