Car chases, leaked addresses, and late night stakeouts; What could go wrong?

Senior assassins is meant to be a silly activity students can enjoy during their final semester in high school. But in recent years, there’s been a pattern of seniors taking this tradition too seriously. What’s meant to be a harmless game has turned into a messy and dangerous competition for money.

The objective of assassins is for senior teams of two to shoot their targets with Nerf guns before the end of each round. Teams who fail to do so, or who get shot themselves, are eliminated.

There’s nothing wrong with the fun aspects of the game. Nights out with friends plotting to get targets, hiding from assassins with elaborate plans, and sitting in the dark behind bushes for extended periods of time until legs go numb are all fine.

But when there are teenagers and money involved, some players do whatever it takes to win, which can lead to safety risks.

A huge problem is driving. One rule created by the “godfathers” explicitly states someone is only safe in a vehicle if their car’s engine is on. That means the second students step out of a vehicle, they are fair game. The best course of action for students targeting someone in a car is to follow close behind so they can shoot them as soon as they exit the vehicle.

In pursuit of targets on the road, students have been caught on dash cam recordings veering through lanes at excessive speeds to follow a target to their destination. These irresponsible driving habits put everyone on the road in danger.

This leads to a stalking problem as students aren’t allowed to be shot on campus. Following a target to their job an hour away, leaking addresses and trailing individuals as they go about their private lives are all creepy activities that the game pushes students to do in order to win.

Students whose addresses are leaked feel paranoid to leave their cars and go in their homes because their assassin could strike at any time. Just this year, a student had to call the police just to get someone to move away from their home so they could get inside.

Unfortunately, this problem isn’t unique to just homes. Workplaces, after-school sports, and other extracurricular activities can become traps as well.

The game itself doesn’t have to be a negative or dangerous experience. Seniors not only participate willingly, but also pay a $20 entry fee. But this still doesn’t excuse the fact that the game encourages risky behavior.

The players ultimately are the culprits, and the game is just a catalyst.