100-word rant: school’s wifi should stop blocking video games

Photo by Sam Bai

chess.com is blocked when using school WiFi.

Tutorial starts as you walk from classroom to classroom, trying to find one that is open. After finally approaching a warm classroom that has all your friends, you sit down with them and open your laptop. Having finished all your homework the previous night like the responsible student you are, boredom fills your mind as you try to look for something productive to do. There just so happens to be a Chess Club meeting today, so you open your computer to practice some puzzles on lichess.org. 

Unfortunately, the message “Web Page Blocked” appears front and center on your screen in obnoxiously bold letters as you realize that the school WiFi has denied you access to Lichess.

In a recent update, many websites such as jstris.jezvec10, tetr.io, chess.com, fanfiction.net, League of Legends and even 2048.org have been blocked at the school. 

This makes life much harder for students who want to play video games during their free time or with friends during breaks and tutorials, forcing them to resort to their limited hotspots. Like many times in history, blocking access to a thing will not decrease the use of it, but rather incentivize seeking ways to sidestep the new rules. Maybe the next game that will be blocked will be Genshin Impact, leaving players stuck at school and unable to finish their daily quests. 

Although the purpose is achieved by causing students to play fewer video games during school hours, it also leaves them feeling bored and exhausted after going to school on zero hours of sleep. Instead, the school should just undo the recent changes. How else should students play video games or read their favorite fan fictions during finals or important lectures? What better way to solve that problem than to simply allow these websites to be opened on school wifi again.