The online game Slope has taken the Totino-Grace student body by storm. Slope is an animated game where the player controls a ball with the arrow keys and attempts to stay on the path all while avoiding bumping into walls. Students spend up to hours on this game while at school trying to improve their scores and beat friends. Slope has become a problem for teachers as well, students stop listening and when teachers ask for computers to be closed student don’t close them since the game cannot be paused. Most teachers don’t know the name of the game, but hate it and think it’s disrespectful.

Science teacher Mrs. Schmidt says that there is a time and place for games but school is not one of those places. She goes on to tell us that the most irritating thing is once she has finished teaching her lesson and students who were playing games are confused about what she just taught about. She also says that parents are paying thousands of dollars for their children to attend here, but in class, students are playing a game and not learning.

Art teacher Mrs. Braun tells us that the game reminds her of Tetris because of how addicting it is. She also says that Slope hasn’t been a problem in her class. The reason for that is because art doesn’t require your computer to ever be open.

Math teacher Ms. Renier says that students are distracted during her class and in her own words “It’s an addiction and it should be blocked.” While some students here think Slope is the greatest game ever and others hate it there is a broad range of opinions on the game throughout the school.

Junior, Claire Schumacher, has an “unhealthy obsession” with Slope. She carries a sticky note around just to cover up her score because “It helps me focus on the game.” Claire tells us she plays about 2 hours of Slope here at school. She says that she never plays at home. Senior, Daniel Claussen, says he hates Slope. He says “I don’t understand why it’s so popular it’s dumb.”