As high school kickstarts and teachers crackdown on students who are often off task. Newer, more complicated tactics are being used every day to continue gaming off the radar. By looking at both sides of the struggle – teachers, and students – were going to identify the best tactics for maximizing your WESS gaming experience. Including the opinions of teachers on gaming in general. After all what else would you do in High school?  

Students’ Opinion

Many of us have seen the constant clicking of The W, S, A, and D that cues us to every teacher’s nightmare… Shell Shockers. When playing this game, tab switching and facial expressions are crucial in ensuring that a teacher doesn’t catch you in the act. Some strategies for tabs switching include swiping across your trackpad with 3 fingers. I’ve recently discovered through interviews that all of your open tabs correspond left to right with numbers 1 through 9. By clicking control and then the number that corresponds with the tab, your teacher thinks you are on you can shift tabs effortlessly. Another important skill to have when going off task on your teachers is to make sure you keep your face as black as possible so that you do not arouse attention. The last hope chance you have is to press control T, which catapults you to a new tab. Though recent developments have blocked Shell Shockers from WESS wifi, gamers have found another loophole. By creating your own hotspot you can avoid WESS wifi and continue gaming unrestricted. 

Teachers’ Opinion

Looking back and forth, and patrolling the classroom is a waste of time for teachers. “Students should behave the way they want to be treated, it is on them if they don’t want to cherish their learning,” a WESS teacher claims. It is not the teacher’s problem if you want to throw away your chance for a good education.  The teachers will view the student as the one playing games and the student may miss an opportunity they could have had. When students play games during school hours it can distract others who don’t want to be distracted. The students who are trying to learn to hear the games, see others playing them, and see their reaction. This results in them being pulled away from the lesson even if it is just for one minute, they lose one minute of time they could have spent learning. Furthermore, when teachers have to punish the students who are playing games, it takes away from the questions they could have answered or the explanations they could have given. Therefore, students playing games wastes the time of others and their teachers.

Soo…

As we turn towards games as a way to relieve us from the stress of school, it’s important to remember that in the long run gaming can’t teach you what paying attention in class can. Even though we as a student body have the skill to go off task in class, it’s a power that we must wield wisely. Regardless, WESS will remain the gaming hub of the Upper West Side.