Diplomacy club

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Diplomacy club

#1 Post by [email protected] » Wed Apr 10, 2019 2:19 pm

Me and some of my friends want to make a diplomacy club at our high school, but we are afraid that if we make posters and advertise it then the school will block it on all of the school computers. We will probably design a poster anyways, so if anyone has any constructive ideas or any ideas at all then please tell me.
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Re: Diplomacy club

#2 Post by Percy Williams » Wed Apr 10, 2019 2:52 pm

You might try presenting to the school board (or whoever is in charge of things like that) and showing how diplomacy encourages critical thinking, logic, and increases interest in history. I watched a documentary on the world wars, and it was so interesting when I thought of it as a diplomacy game. You might also bring up some of the other games/programs that make it through the system, and how they are much worse, and possibly point out that there are too many different ways to get online games, that it is impossible to presume that you can just ban all of them, some will get through regardless. If you can pull out some statistics on why Diplomacy makes you smarter/better, you're good.

Basically, be proactive and not reactive, and tell the people in charge that allowing, nay encouraging, a diplomacy club is a controlled way for them to promote critical thinking and cognitive analytical skills among the student populous.

Hope the words of a speech and debater help you in your quest. (Feel free to use any of those phrases)
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Re: Diplomacy club

#3 Post by e.m.c^42 » Wed Apr 10, 2019 3:02 pm

Well, first of all, how many people do you guys have? :D

if you already have 7+ (if going for classic), then word-of-mouth will probably be easiest - it also depends on what rules the school has regarding clubs (i.e. some have requirements of a minimum member count) and what type of people are at your school.

but imo you could try doing posters along the lines of "how to manipulate people 101", or "taking over the world", etc... as in, make it sound appealing to anyone who's ever dreamed of being a genius mastermind (at least, that'd be what would lure me lol)

Also, if the site does end up being blocked, you can appeal it, since there's a lot of ways to spin this as being educational (and being an integral part of your club). Politics, vital interpersonal communication skills, WWI, critical thinking skills, just to name the obvious few.

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Re: Diplomacy club

#4 Post by [email protected] » Wed Apr 10, 2019 3:19 pm

Thanks, that’s a great argument to make

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Re: Diplomacy club

#5 Post by Magnetic24 » Wed Apr 10, 2019 4:57 pm

I have seen your private games around a ton, from your world game to even your WWIV game on vdip. It seems like you have an active and interested group of individuals eager to play. What I would begin with is:

1) Get a teacher to support your cause. Having someone a level higher will support your case.
2) Connect it to world history as much as you can. The classic board game IS from WW1, after all!
3) I would even try applying it to classes. As a sophomore in high school, I convinced my world history teacher to have a diplomacy project after the AP - making your own maps in a setting that applies to world history really interested her.

But, coming back, I noticed that every diplomacy site - with the exception of WebDiplomacy - was blocked on my old school's system. It's a slippery slope!

Best of luck to you.
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Re: Diplomacy club

#6 Post by yavuzovic » Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:45 pm

Try using subliminals so school won't understand it.
😫 Why is it blocked in our computers though, I bet they haven't heard about this site.

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Re: Diplomacy club

#7 Post by Peregrine Falcon » Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:25 pm

If you don't want it getting banned, I might suggest not advertising it as "how to manipulate people 101"...

But seriously, there's a really good case to be made about the educational aspects. I first started playing Dip because I had a teacher use it in their course to teach about WW1. Tons more use this very site for their classes even now.

But why would you think it would get blocked in the first place?
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Re: Diplomacy club

#8 Post by [email protected] » Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:50 pm

My school has blocked almost every game on the MacBooks.
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Re: Diplomacy club

#9 Post by Senlac » Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:55 pm

[email protected] wrote:
Wed Apr 10, 2019 2:19 pm
Me and some of my friends want to make a diplomacy club at our high school, but we are afraid that if we make posters and advertise it then the school will block it on all of the school computers. We will probably design a poster anyways, so if anyone has any constructive ideas or any ideas at all then please tell me.
It was a long long time ago, but a 70’s attitude could serve well. If any member of staff tries to block your Diplomacy club, challenge them to a public game & kick their arse for them:-)
That’s the kind of tactic we used to great effect, “back in the day”. Good luck to you & enjoy.

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Re: Diplomacy club

#10 Post by e.m.c^42 » Fri Apr 12, 2019 3:14 pm

[email protected] wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:50 pm
My school has blocked almost every game on the MacBooks.
VPN's? iirc they're likely banned too, but there are several ways bypassing that, depending on what your school does.

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Re: Diplomacy club

#11 Post by FlaviusAetius » Fri Apr 12, 2019 3:57 pm

Our school has blocked a lot, and webdiplomacy is our last haven ;(
We have a lot of fun playing the games, and I've spread webdiplomacy around, but to have the school find out about it would kill me
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Re: Diplomacy club

#12 Post by Senlac » Fri Apr 12, 2019 5:55 pm

FlaviusAetius wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 3:57 pm
Our school has blocked a lot, and webdiplomacy is our last haven ;(
We have a lot of fun playing the games, and I've spread webdiplomacy around, but to have the school find out about it would kill me
Totally outrageous! Your school needs some appropriate anarchy!

I remember our democratically elected “Head Boy” was demoted for a minor misdemeanour (You don’t have those anymore I expect, but he was liaison between staff & pupils).
We were outraged & boycotted the election of any successor, that then had to become an appointee. He got completely ignored by all pupils (poor guy). To my delight the following year elections were boycotted again, unless the dismissed head boy was allowed to run:-) The position of head boy was subsequently abandoned because of constant dissent.

How is it to be expected that young folks become thinking adults if pastimes such a Diplomacy are outlawed. I’ve played since I was 12 & woe betide any teacher who went so far as commenting, let alone imposing a viewpoint!

The world has changed enormously in the last 50 years, but this dictatorial behaviour by schools cannot be good for helping pupils develop maturity. What do other folks think?

Good on you for getting a webDiplomacy following in your school. I hope the school realises what a great hobby it is and backs off.
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Re: Diplomacy club

#13 Post by flash2015 » Fri Apr 12, 2019 6:31 pm

Wow, Seniac, are you really a progressive?

I remember at least at my school that whatever the brother or lay teacher said was the law...and we didn't really have much say in it unless parents got involved.

But then again, I went to Catholic school so I may be still traumatized by that fact... :razz:

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Re: Diplomacy club

#14 Post by e.m.c^42 » Fri Apr 12, 2019 6:46 pm

Well, to be fair, webdip isn't banned - I suspect the majority of game sites that are blocked are the major flash game sites, nsfw games, etc..., which really aren't productive, especially in a school environment.

It doesn't seem likely to be banned unless a lot of students are found off-task.
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Re: Diplomacy club

#15 Post by Senlac » Fri Apr 12, 2019 6:50 pm

No, I wouldn’t really identify with the label “progressive”. I’ve been called many things but most often towards the other end of the spectrum.
I do seriously believe that young adults be free to make their mistakes & learn from desirable/undesirable outcomes, unless it’s a serious issue (e.g. drug abuse, juvenile pregnancy, etc.) Diplomacy doesn’t even come close to an issue requiring adult intervention.
I exploded at a USA high school principal on one occasion, that his school treated pupils like kindergarten, until they reached 18 & were thrown off the cliff into adulthood. He got upset & defensive, but didn’t make much of a case for the ridiculous policies being pursued.
My wife was educated by Spanish nuns at a Catholic Boarding School, so I understand when you say that can lead to being traumatised:-)
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Re: Diplomacy club

#16 Post by Yigg » Fri Apr 12, 2019 7:44 pm

I would have to second the notion that you'd want a Teacher or Staff member to champion your cause. If you don't have an idea who to ask, depending on who they are, a good place to start might be your school Librarian. A typical Librarian is no big fan of censorship and blocking, a fan of history, and might be sympathetic to gaming nerds (if not a gaming nerd themselves). They are also usually well connected to the types of people who make decisions on what web-filters go into place.

Best of luck, and if I can be of any help, like speaking to academic types and whatnot, feel free to reach out.

Cheers,
Yigg
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Re: Diplomacy club

#17 Post by e.m.c^42 » Fri Apr 12, 2019 8:11 pm

Speaking of staff members;

if you're genuinely worried about future blocks, try to get close with someone from your IT department and have them sponsor or co-sponsor your club. Depending on what your school district does, befriending and convincing a student who works there has the same effect - since this was something I did in a similar situation :)
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Re: Diplomacy club

#18 Post by [email protected] » Fri Apr 12, 2019 8:26 pm

e.m.c^42 wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 3:14 pm
[email protected] wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 2:50 pm
My school has blocked almost every game on the MacBooks.
VPN's? iirc they're likely banned too, but there are several ways bypassing that, depending on what your school does.
Yeah, all of that is blocked I think. I used to have a different search browser that everything worked on called slimjet, but a few months ago that was somehow blocked. Even discord is blocked for some reason.

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Re: Diplomacy club

#19 Post by Restitution » Fri Apr 12, 2019 9:28 pm

[email protected] wrote:
Fri Apr 12, 2019 8:26 pm
Yeah, all of that is blocked I think. I used to have a different search browser that everything worked on called slimjet, but a few months ago that was somehow blocked. Even discord is blocked for some reason.
You're a teenager in 2019 fighting against a high school's IT department.

You should be able to figure out how to get around this thing, lol.

The idea of a school administration purposefully destroying a club is... yikes. But I don't doubt that they would.

When I was in high school, we would just bring USB sticks with bootable Linux on them.

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Re: Diplomacy club

#20 Post by FlaviusAetius » Fri Apr 12, 2019 9:53 pm

Our IT department will call you down and threaten to get the Vice Principal on you. I went too far once and got called down, it wasn't fun...

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