School districts and police departments in various communities across the country have been warning high school seniors this spring against participating in a game of tag called "senior assassins."
The student-led game, which is not sponsored by schools, involves seniors squirting or tagging other senior classmates with water guns. The tags are often posted to social media. The games can last several days or weeks, with the last senior tagged declared the winner.
Rules vary from school to school about whether the game is off limits on school property.
Concerns center around others in the community mistaking the water guns for a real gun threat. The Verona Police Department in Wisconsin, for example, issued a statement on May 6 saying a "large police response" was dispatched after a report of a male wearing a black ski mask and armed with a handgun who was jogging and crouching down at times.
The police department determined the person was participating in a senior assassins game. "Uninvolved individuals likely will not be aware a game is being played, and they may interpret the situation as a genuine threat," the police statement said, adding the department and the Verona Area School District discourages participation in the game.
The game comes as schools have been experiencing an increase in real gun violence in recent years. In 2023, there were 348 shootings at schools. That's up from 308 in 2022 and 256 in 2021, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database.
School districts and police departments in states such as Maryland, Virginia, Minnesota and Illinois have also urged seniors not to participate in the game, according to local news reports.
Despite this pushback, students who participate say the game builds camaraderie and is a fun activity during their last months in high school.
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