Walk past nearly any student between classes and you will find him on his phone, staring intently at a social media page, internet article, or sports update. This is the way high schoolers are nowadays, and it is a way of life that is both enjoyable and impossible to change.

Now, however, the WiFi has been shut off, and, sadly, such internet usage consumes data.

“It costs me ten dollars for an extra GB of data”, said sophomore Ben Stoffel.

The lack of WiFi is racking up cost for many families as phone bills skyrocket. People are being greatly inconvenienced by the situation, and it is annoying to think that even McDonald’s has the courtesy to offer free WiFi but the school does not.

“The WiFi was shut off to ensure that there are no problems with SOL testing,” said Senior Coordinator of Instructional Technology Keith Reeves. “It is important to note that this decision was made by the Arlington Public Schools central office, controlled by central office personnel. Yorktown was never involved in the decision.”

While it is a relief that the school itself is not inflicting this pain, is it aware of the money that the decision is costing students?

“Yorktown is aware of that, but the school has nothing to do with the WiFi; it is entirely centrally managed,” said Reeves.

The school has no authority to act on the situation, leaving it to rest in the hands of central office personnel. However, this system is flawed because these people are not directly in contact with the students and do not experience all of the negative effects.

“No, I don’t believe APS Department of Information Services personnel are meaningfully aware that students have internet-dependent learning needs, and without access to WiFi, may feel compelled to rely upon 3G/4G, which has a family cost,” said Reeves.

There will be no immediate changes because of this insensitivity, but the WiFi will be turned back on after SOL testing, according to Information Services. In the meantime, families will have to conserve their data and use WiFi networks wherever possible. At school, maybe stay off Twitter between classes, or just keep your phone in your pocket to avoid eating up data. The only way to get through these very hard times is to use your smartphone less, which is much more difficult than it sounds.