Seniors across the nation participate in annual traditions with their grade, but some go too far. This year, the principals of FCPS high schools decided to put a stop to one increasingly dangerous game: senior assassin.
Senior assassin is a game that consists of a challenge to catch your randomly assigned target. Players may have a tracking app such as Life360 to monitor each others’ locations. The game can be played at school, in neighborhoods, or in other public places. Participants may wear goggles or pool floaties to stay “immune”. The goal of the game is to be the last person-or team-standing.
Though it may seem like harmless fun, there have been several documented cases of it taking a turn for the worst. In May of 2024, a Kansas teen, Anakin Zehring, was paralyzed from the waist down after the father of Zehring’s senior assassin target, Ruben Contreras, decided to shoot at the boy and his friends in their vehicle. This occurred after Zehring caught his target at a Walmart and hit Contreras with a gel bead gun. Contreas then called and told her father what had occurred, resulting in the shooting and paralyzing of Zehring (Audrey Conklin, Fox News).
According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have already been 403 mass shootings this year. Statistics like this are inherently correlated to the normalization of weapons, such as in games where players are referred to as “assassins”. As the district recognizes the risks associated with playing this, a decision was made to try to limit participation by banning the possession of items appearing to be weapons. The district-wide email states, “As such, any student found in possession of items that look like a weapon on our campus or at any FCPS-sponsored event will receive a consequence following the Student Code of Conduct up to, and including, suspension or expulsion.”
Even though students are no longer allowed to participate in this activity, there is no lack of other events for HC seniors. At the end of August, HC held a senior sunrise on the football field for students to attend before school. This was a chance for students to catch up with their friends and connect with their peers. The night of HC’s homecoming football game seniors also had the opportunity to wreck a junk car. This was not only another point of bonding, but a chance for them to express the stress of their last year in a healthy way.
