First Person Shooter

Summary

Podcast Summary: Ask the Mediatrician – "First Person Shooter"

Episode Date: November 26, 2019
Host: Dr. Michael Rich (“The Mediatrician”)
Co-Host: Christelle Lavallee
Main Theme:
This episode tackles the impact of first-person shooter (FPS) video games on children’s development and the challenges parents and kids face navigating peer pressure, media influence, and healthy screen habits. The discussion centers around a thoughtful question from a 14-year-old listener, Eric, who is at odds with his friends over choosing not to play violent FPS games.

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Episode Overview

Dr. Rich and Christelle Lavallee answer a question from Eric, a teenager who prefers non-violent games (like FIFA) over popular FPS games (like Call of Duty). Eric wonders if he and his parents are “the odd ones out” and asks about the impact of playing FPS games and how to handle social pressures around them. The conversation explores the educational potential of games, their influence on behavior, the psychology behind gaming, and ways to navigate social dynamics.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Educational Value and Power of Video Games

• Immersive Learning Environments:
  • Dr. Rich notes that video games are “one of the best educational technologies ever created” due to their ability to immerse players in unique environments with their own challenges and rules (03:06).
  • Quote:

    “Video games are not only great fun, but they are arguably one of the best educational technologies ever created because they immerse you in a unique world with its own sets of challenges and rules.” – Dr. Michael Rich (03:06)

• Skills Developed:
  • Video games can foster problem solving, strategic thinking, and hand-eye coordination. However, the practical outcomes depend heavily on what the game is teaching.
  • Quote:

    “There are things even from first person shooter games that improve, such as visual attention and hand eye coordination. But it's a different thing to be learning hand eye coordination to fly a plane or to shoot someone.” – Dr. Michael Rich (04:26)

2. The Behavioral Influence of First Person Shooter Games

• Reinforcement of Reflexive Behaviors:
  • FPS games condition players to see quick movements as threats, reinforcing “shoot first” reflexes rather than thoughtful strategies (05:20).
• Long-Term Impact:
  • “If they practice over and over and over again that if anything moves, you shoot it, and that's how you win, it's going to change things for them.” – Dr. Michael Rich (07:39)
• Research Findings:
  • Playing FPS games does not necessarily make kids violent in real life, but can increase microaggressions, bullying, confrontational conflict-solving, and prioritizing winning at all costs (07:39–09:46).
  • Quote:

    “Those who play first person shooter games…are more likely to be disrespectful to others, to use more confrontational or violent approaches to solving conflicts, to focus on winning above all, even if it means saying something nasty or throwing a punch earlier in a disagreement.” – Dr. Michael Rich (07:39)

3. Societal Trends: Violence, Microaggressions, and Statistics

• Misinterpretation of Statistics:
  • Increased popularity of violent games has not resulted in more murders due to advances in trauma care, not necessarily reduced violence (08:44–09:04).
  • Quote:

    “As Mark Twain once said, there are three kinds of People in descending order liars, damned liars and statisticians.” – Dr. Michael Rich (08:44)

• Rise of Subtle Harmful Behaviors:
  • The real increase is in microaggressions, bullying, sexism, and general mean-spiritedness, rather than in overt violence (09:04–09:46).
  • Quote:

    “What we're actually seeing an increase in is microaggressions, is bullying in the schools, is sexism and racism and meanness. Mean spiritedness in our world, which all of us experience.” – Dr. Michael Rich (09:21)

4. Social Dynamics: Dealing with Peer Pressure and Friendship

• Maintaining Friendships:
  • Dr. Rich advises Eric not to reject his friends for playing FPS games, noting that kids have “rich and diverse lives” and shouldn’t get funneled into single interests (10:16–10:19).
  • Expanding Interests:
    • Eric can be a leader by suggesting new, exciting activities outside gaming, rather than debating which game is better (10:52).
    • Quote:

      “Instead of saying, my game is better than your game to say, hey, you want to go rock climbing? Or hey, you want to do something else?... look at all these other things we can do when we're not gaming.” – Dr. Michael Rich (10:52)

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Empowering Young Listeners:
  • Christelle’s enthusiasm for Eric’s thoughtfulness:

    “I love, love, love how thoughtful he is about playing video games and how they're affecting him.” – Christelle Lavallee (02:32)

• On Teachable Moments:
  • Dr. Rich highlights the ongoing learning kids experience:

    “For kids, every moment is a teachable moment. And they are always figuring out the world, how to behave in that world, and what the outcomes of those behaviors are likely to be.” (07:38)

• Reframing the Outcome:
  • “Maybe it's not about first person shooters increasing the likelihood of school shootings, but about first person shooters increasing the likelihood of being unkind, which is a real effect.” – Dr. Michael Rich (09:46)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:12 | Dr. Rich introduces the episode’s theme: screens & child health | | 02:04 | Question from Eric: pressure to play FPS games | | 03:06 | Educational potential of video games | | 04:26 | Games teaching reflexes and behavioral scripts | | 07:39 | Research on behavioral effects of FPS games | | 08:44 | Statistics, violence trends, and subtle societal effects | | 09:46 | Microaggressions and kindness in society | | 10:16 | Advice on friendship, peer pressure, and leading by example | | 10:52 | Suggesting alternative group activities | | 11:18 | Affirmation for Eric’s leadership & closing thoughts |

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Conclusion & Takeaways

• Games Teach — Be Thoughtful About What They Teach:
  The skills games teach (including FPS games) are real and lasting. The critical question is: “Do I really want to learn those things?” (05:46)
• Aggression Isn't Just Violence:
  FPS games may not turn teens into criminals, but they can foster real-world negative behaviors like meanness, microaggressions, and a confrontational attitude.
• Social Balance is Key:
  It’s healthy for kids like Eric to pursue their own interests and lead by example, fostering diversity in group activities and challenging the "herd mentality".
• Parents and Kids Aren’t Alone:
  Open discussion, thoughtful decision-making, and leadership among peers can help navigate media’s powerful influence.

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Final Words

“Enjoy your gaming and your non gaming activities. Choose them wisely and enjoy your friends and play with them wisely.”
– Dr. Michael Rich (11:59)

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For questions or to share your experience, visit askthemediatrician.org

Transcript

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[Dr. Michael Rich]

Hey, it's Dr. Michael Rich, the mediatrician. I'm a practicing pediatrician, a child health researcher, and a lifelong filmmaker who understands how powerfully screens engage and change us as human beings. As a doctor who takes care of kids every day, I am concerned about how they struggle with the use of screens in their lives and how their parents worry about how the screens that they use, the content that they use and the way they use them are affecting their physical, mental and social health. So I'm really trying to bring together the two worlds that I know and understand to really figure out how best to raise healthy, happy, productive children in a world filled with these digital screens. Mediatrix educator Christelle Lavallee joins me here each week to help address your questions.

[Christelle Lavallee]

Yes I do. Thanks Michael. I really like this question which comes to us from Eric who writes, I am 14 years old and currently debating my choice of friends. They all play first person shooter or FPS games while I choose other kinds of games. They often tell me how great their games are but criticize mine when they clamor for the new Call of Duty. I freak out over the new FIFA games. I am firmly against playing M or Mature or AO adults only games and so are my parents. Are my parents and I the odd ones out on this? Aren't there negative effects associated with playing first person shooter games and if so, what can I do? So Michael, I got this and it's from a 14 year old boy and I almost didn't believe it was a real question from a real 14 year old boy. So I'm protecting Eric's privacy here, but I found him on social media and I can emphatically say that he's real. He's a video game loving teen and I love, love, love how thoughtful he is about playing video games and how they're affecting him. So we really need to help Eric out here.

[Podcast Announcer]

Wow.

[Dr. Michael Rich]

Thanks for a great question and a great choice for yourself, Eric. I really admire that you're paying attention to how playing games makes you feel and how you are like Henry David Thoreau marching to your own drummer. Video games are not only great fun, but they are arguably one of the best educational technologies ever created because they immerse you in a unique world with its own sets of challenges and rules. They challenge you to figure out and solve problems. They reward you for overcoming increasingly difficult challenges, and frankly, they punish you or set you back when you fail to overcome those challenges.

[Christelle Lavallee]

I never looked at it that way.

[Dr. Michael Rich]

Yeah, and if you think about it, you could learn almost anything from that environment and that set of conditions. But because they are so engaging and immersive, many players are less aware than Eric is about what they are learning and how they are being changed as a result of their gaming experience. They're just playing. And by putting that player into the virtual environment of a game with its own rules for success and failure, with its own rewards, the player builds skills needed to play the game. And there are things even from first person shooter games that improve, such as visual attention and hand eye coordination. But it's a different thing to be learning hand eye coordination to fly a plane or to shoot someone. In order to succeed, the player has to change how they view the world. And that virtual world demands certain things. So if they're playing a soccer game like FIFA, they think strategically about how to move the ball down the field, which players are more likely to intercept their passes and which are less likely which way the goalie is going to move in response to your penalty kick. In an FPS game, players are conditioned to see any movement as a potential threat and to kill it. And so if you think about it, these are not even thought through actions, but they're reflexive actions. And they create these virtual realities and reinforce specific behavioral scripts that people do over and over and over again. And so maybe what we should be thinking about is not how much fun they are, but what are they teaching me and do I really want to learn those things?

[Christelle Lavallee]

I like how you're framing that. So breaking this down for Eric. Clearly these games are Incredibly powerful. Eric sees it, his friends may not see it, but we know. We know that these games are having some kind of effect. What can we say to Eric so that he kind of can understand and also, you know, communicate that back to his friends?

[Dr. Michael Rich]

Well, I think he should understand how he's already thought this through the first level and really understands that he is being changed by these games. And I would suspect that if he's a fan of FIFA soccer games, that he's better on the soccer field in real life than he would be if he didn't have those virtual experiences of strategic thinking around the soccer field.

[Christelle Lavallee]

That's the strategy you were talking about before with the goalie and understanding that that can transl. Absolutely.

[Dr. Michael Rich]

These games are widely popular because they tap into very primal human urges. The fight for survival and the desire to prevail or win in that fight for survival.

[Christelle Lavallee]

Yeah. And those are all baked in.

[Dr. Michael Rich]

This is really inherent in many of the struggles of adolescence, but it's something that is shared worldwide. It is not language or religion or culture dependent. We all.

[Christelle Lavallee]

It's all of us.

[Dr. Michael Rich]

Absolutely. It's our most primal human urges. And many of us will not in real life face a life or death choice or conflict. But video games of this nature engage those users repeatedly in virtual kill or be killed situations. And so even though these are virtual, we are changed. We are changed by everything that we do. We talk sometimes about the teachable moment. For kids, every moment is a teachable moment.

[Christelle Lavallee]

I love that.

[Dr. Michael Rich]

And they are always figuring out the world, how to behave in that world, and what the outcomes of those behaviors are likely to be. And so if they practice over and over and over again that if anything moves, you shoot it, and that's how you win, it's going to change things for them. And research shows that those who play first person shooter games are not necessarily going to pick up a gun and shoot up their school, but they're more likely to be disrespectful to others, to use more confrontational or violent approaches to solving conflicts, to focus on winning above all, even if it means saying something nasty or throwing a punch earlier in a disagreement.

[Christelle Lavallee]

And those are real effects. It is clearly really affecting them.

[Dr. Michael Rich]

And here's the interesting thing. There's a lot of talk about how, hey, well, you know, we have seen a big increase in these kind of violent games and in violent movies, but we haven't seen a big increase in murders.

[Christelle Lavallee]

Yep, I hear that all the time.

[Dr. Michael Rich]

Right. And as Mark Twain once said, there are three kinds of People in descending order liars, damned liars and statisticians. And depending on what you. Depending on what you look at, you can basically make statistics say a lot of different things.

[Christelle Lavallee]

What you want to support your argument.

[Dr. Michael Rich]

And they're absolutely right that we are getting better and better at controlling violence in the sense of murders in our world. Some of that is because something that would have killed someone in a personal violence situation 10 years ago is not killing them now. Because our trauma surgery is better, because we get people to care sooner. So you have to think about this a little more deeply. What we're actually seeing an increase in is microaggressions, is bullying in the schools, is sexism and racism and meanness. Mean spiritedness in our world, which all of us experience.

[Christelle Lavallee]

Yeah.

[Dr. Michael Rich]

And stats bear out. So maybe it's not about first person shooters increasing the likelihood of school shootings, but about first person shooters increasing the likelihood of being unkind, which is a real effect. Absolutely.

[Christelle Lavallee]

So what do we tell Eric? Does he need to find new friends? Friends who aren't into the FPS games and who are more into FIFA? I mean, what do we say? This poor kid.

[Dr. Michael Rich]

Well, I don't think Eric should reject his friends.

[Christelle Lavallee]

Okay, good, good news, Eric.

[Dr. Michael Rich]

Because what, you know, kids live rich and diverse lives, and what happens often with video games is they narrow that down into doing only one thing. So Eric can, by virtue of his increased insight, his clear ability to act out of his own innate instincts rather than going with the flow, can be a leader in moving them into other areas that they might enjoy as well.

[Podcast Listener]

Oh, I like that.

[Dr. Michael Rich]

Instead of saying, my game is better than your game to say, hey, you want to go rock climbing? Or hey, you want to do something else? Learn parkour and really freak your parents out. You know, I mean, to do something different but equally exciting. So it's not my word against your word about what the better game is, but hey, look at all these other things we can do when we're not gaming.

[Christelle Lavallee]

Oh, I think that's so great. So great. So, Eric, thank you so much for being what it sounds like, Michael, a public health leader.

[Dr. Michael Rich]

Absolutely, Eric. Yeah.

[Christelle Lavallee]

Good job. So thank you for doing that, especially when it comes to FPS games and for sharing your experience and submitting your questions. We'd love to hear how it's going with your friends. If you want to circle back to us, you can do that. And also find links to all of our [e-mail] you can also follow our mediatrician on Twitter. Mediatrician and you can submit your own question just like eric [e-mail] and thanks guys so much for listening. Make sure you subscribe and share this podcast.

[Dr. Michael Rich]

Enjoy your gaming and your non gaming activities. Choose them wisely and enjoy your friends friends and play with them wisely.

[Podcast Announcer]

Ask the Mediatrician is hosted by Dr. Michael Rich, joined by Mediatrix educator Christelle Lavallee. Jill R. Kavanagh is our Chief Knowledge Officer. Original music composed by Christopher Cerf Podcast and music recorded, mixed and edited at Saturn Sound Studios Executive Producer Alicia Haywood.

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