By J1 reporter Lauren Montague 

Marian girls love their apps. This makes the discovery of apps being blocked even more heartbreaking. The most recent app to come to an untimely death for Marian students was Among Us. 

Among Us took the Marian community by storm early this school year. It is an online multiplayer social deduction game. Junior Molly Gallegos says the game is “an interactive game between players. There are two teams and the whole goal of the game is to kill off the other team.” 

Many Marian girls have downloaded the game over the past few months. “It is a game about suspicion. There are 4-10 crew mates and 1-3 impostors. If you are a crew mate, you want to finish your tasks, then determine and vote out the impostors, and if you are an impostor, you want to kill everyone on board,” junior Josie Golka said.

Among Us became popular between students because it is a game that people can play with their friends. Junior Meredith Bailey said that the game is “ just a really fun and easy way to play with friends… especially in this time of social distancing, it is an easy way to connect.”

The game Among Us became a huge hit early this school year. Many girls were playing it any chance they could get both in and out of school. 

Junior Avery Kinnison describes the game as fun but says “however, it can be very distracting during the school day while in class.” 

Mr. William Deibler, the Marian technology director, described the process the administration goes through to block apps. He stated that very few apps are explicitly blocked, but some of them include Snapchat and TikTok. Deibler said that Marian installed and recently downloaded an updated firewall network which is the school’s content filter for the iPads. This new firewall network is what blocked the game Among Us because of its “violent nature.” 

Deibler says that there is a lengthy process of blocking other apps on the system. First he must receive multiple complaints from teachers about the excessive use of the app. Then, Deibler will go to the administrators, specifically principal Mrs. Susie Sullivan, and discuss a plan if they will block the app or not. He will block the app only with the administration’s approval. 

Virtually all Marian girls have some type of entertainment apps on their iPads: whether it is video apps like YouTube and Netflix or games like Property Brothers and Landscapes. However many can agree that though these apps may be enjoyable, but they do cause distractions. 

Junior Avery Kinnison plays the game Among Us while sporting her 80s look for Gnimocemoh spirit week.