As seniors are wrapping up their four years here at Segerstrom, many are looking for a fun way to destress from the pressures of college applications, financial aid, and senioritis. Through the past few years, seniors have participated in a game called Senior Assassin, organized by a student, not the school.
The premise of Senior Assassin is that each student is assigned a target who they must shoot with a water gun. The goal of the game is to be the last man standing who hasn’t been shot. The winner is awarded with a cash prize depending on the amount of people who are playing. The game has been very popular amongst seniors the past few years, but there have been some concerns arising as people take the game to the next level.
On March 12th, the Santa Ana Police Department was contacted regarding a student playing this game. They were told that a student brought a gun to campus, and took action as a result. The student was detained and questioned, where they found that the gun that was seen was, in fact, their water gun for the Senior Assassin game.
Mr. Casper sent out a school-wide message to both parents and students that night, warning students not to play on campus, or there would be disciplinary action. It was stated in the message that, “After school, SAPD came into contact with a group of students participating in this activity. The activity involves water guns which can be mistaken for real weapons. Any students found on campus participating in this game are at risk for disciplinary actions.”
After receiving this message, students had conflicting responses, varying from people believing it was an overreaction, to others believing it was helpful information.
One senior, a participant in Senior Assassin, found the school-wide message to be unnecessary: “This entire situation is crazy for no reason. I get that having guns in school is dangerous, but it’s just a water gun for a game. It’s not a big deal.”
On the other hand, another senior, a friend of a Senior Assassin participant, found that the message was helpful and put their mind at ease: “I was scared when I heard someone had a gun on campus. Thankfully, it was cleared up, but I think it’s important that people who are playing follow the rules and cautiously pick a water gun that doesn’t look like a real gun,” the senior said.
Overall, this activity will continue to be played by the senior class, but seniors must abide by the rule that the game must be played off campus only. We advise any students participating in Senior Assassin to be cautious of the water guns they choose to use and to only play this game in authorized areas.
