Starting on May 5, all Lexington Public Schools classrooms upwards of sixth grade will be required to have Subway Surfers or Minecraft parkour projected on a wall throughout the entirety of all classes.
The US Food and Drug Administration signed this new law into effect on March 17 of this year, intending to engage a greater number of students during class.
The act came after a groundbreaking study released in December by Harvard’s Department of Psychology found that projecting videos of mobile gameplay alongside instructional material increases student engagement. After the release of other peer-reviewed studies with similar results, lawmakers decided to bring it into the classroom.
Short-form video content, including games such as Subway Surfers and Minecraft, are now projected alongside actual academic content. Videos feature robotic or AI narrators.
This initiative is preceded by consistent academic decline since the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, the average math final score at Lexington High School was 21%, an all-time low. When asked what the cause of this shockingly low average was, Associate Principal Andre Pâtissier blamed the prevalence of short-form content on social media apps.
“The attention span of this generation is painfully short. I—hey, are you still listening to me?” Pâtissier said.
Teachers have long been searching for new methods to keep students focused in class. Many are so desperate that they will implement any new methods that engage students and help them perform better.
“I love Subway Surfers,” Fud Procesor, the LHS ski coach, said. “And kids always sleep in my class.”
The enthusiasm that teachers have about new methods of teaching has been reciprocated by students.
“Icl teacher lectures are MAD boring, man. Ts pmo,” Amab Casgupta, a former student of Procesor, said.
Community service hours will now be allotted to those who record their Subway Surfers gameplay to be displayed in classrooms. Auditions will be held to determine who is eligible, and high-scoring individuals will be given a $14.34 gift card* for the Apple Store.
*Terms and conditions may apply