It’s not the time for us to write about what happened in Connecticut. It’s not the time, in my opinion, for anyone to write speculatively about the role or lackthereof of video games vis a vis what happened in Connecticut. It’s just not right, not now, not with children still to be buried – and this has nothing to do with my personal feelings about the matter. 

Instead, I want to encourage everyone who is bloviating about the effect of games on troubled young people to read this extraordinarily moving piece by a formerly troubled young person. 

Natt Garun moved to America from Thailand when she was nine, and in addition to the standard challenges of coming to a new country and starting a new school, she barely saw her parents (her father had died several years before). Games changed her life:

The Nintendo 64 provided a sort of solace I never knew I wanted. When I was stupidly hating my mom for denying time with me, I sought comfort in a round of Super Smash Bros. I practiced my English on Hey You, Pikachu! and considered it successful when that little yellow rat picked up the objects I told it to, or moved left and right as I directed. Paper Mario was the main reason I rushed to do all my homework – so I had time to finish the newest level before bed. When I got to school, I had something to chat about with my newfound American friends. I no longer felt like an outsider; they no longer looked at me as the alien.

Please read the whole thing, and keep it in mind as you try to avoid the nonsense out there right now.