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Fairfax County parents are pressing school leaders to tighten controls on student devices after children reportedly accessed an Epstein-themed escape game, gambling-related content, pirated entertainment and other restricted material during the school day.
The game, “Five Nights at Epstein’s,” challenges players to escape from sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein’s private island. Several parents said they have seen students playing it despite the school system’s online safeguards.
“It’s alarming to hear that the kids are accessing that, and finding ways to work around the restrictions that we have set in our county,” parent Megan Durst said.
The concerns are being raised by FCPS Parents for Intentional Technology, a parent-led group advocating for stricter limits on classroom screen time and reconsideration of Fairfax County Public Schools’ policy of providing a device to every student.
Group member Erin Dyal began scrutinizing the issue several years ago after reviewing websites visited on her son’s school-issued device. One URL included the phrase “history tutor,” but when she opened it, she discovered that it was a gaming site rather than an educational resource.
Dyal said students appear able to find games, pirated movies and complete television seasons through a shared Google Drive. She believes some may evade restrictions by signing into personal Gmail accounts or using proxy sites. Michelle Dirst, another group member, said students are also accessing gambling-related games.
“There’s no way that they’re going to keep up with blocking these games,” Dyal said. She called on the school system to disable peer-to-peer sharing and close other gaps, arguing that students who repeatedly bypass restrictions may not be ready to use computers at school.
School systems respond
Fairfax County Public Schools said it relies on several layers of protection instead of a single filter or blocklist. Those measures include content filtering, classroom monitoring, parent visibility tools, cybersecurity monitoring, vendor escalation and intervention by individual schools.
The division said it reviews new proxy-site activity daily and is investing additional resources to block proxies more quickly. Recent blocks have been implemented substantially faster, according to the district.
Neighboring school systems have also acted against “Five Nights at Epstein’s.” Montgomery and Prince William county schools said they have blocked the game. Loudoun County’s Department of Digital Innovation said it is aware of the game and has taken steps to prevent access on school-issued devices.
Dyal said the constant effort to police laptop use places another burden on teachers, who did not enter the profession “to be laptop police.” Still, she argued that gaming during lessons should be addressed when it occurs.
“There’s no reason why students should be playing games in class and people not shutting that down,” she said.