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 Linda Thomas
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A game called "Senior Assassin" has gone on for years, but game underway for the next two weeks at dozens of Western Washington high schools has an underlying tension because of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre. (Photo by Linda Thomas)

School zero-tolerance policies are ignored for popular game

March 7, 2013 @ 4:46 pm (Updated: 10:05 am - 3/8/13 )

"Dude, I got you. You are so dead."

At a time when adults are concerned about gun violence and school shootings, students are competing to kill each other with toy guns by playing "Senior Assassin."

Many private and public school teachers and administrators in Western Washington look the other way while the game is played for a couple of weeks.

"Hello, I'm Hunter and today I'm going to teach you how to play Assassins. The object of your game is to eliminate your target before you are eliminated," he says in a video posted on Facebook to describe the student-run activity.

There are numerous rules to the stealthy survival game. Play is voluntary. Students sign up to "kill or be killed" in a group that's generally organized through Facebook.

No two people have the same target. The object is to take out your target by shooting him or her with a Nerf gun, or in some cases schools have used squirt guns. A few schools do a version of the game that's less likely to get someone in trouble for having a toy gun in school, by using stickers.

Once hit, the student is out of the game and has to surrender their target to the assassin, who keeps collecting targets.

"What happens if you get a name you don't recognize? This is where the tactic of sleazy underhanded sleuthing comes in," Hunter explains. "If you really want to be a stalker you could try to find a copy of their schedule."

The number one rule of the game is that the "hit" cannot happen on school property.

"I believe it's not allowed to happen on school grounds, that it's supposed to happen after school hours so that it's not a school-related game," says one teacher who is aware the game's being played at her high school.

Most students are targeted on their way to or from school, it's best to have a Nerf gun with you tucked away in your backpack or hidden in a locker.

In some schools, you don't even have to hide the toy guns. Teachers, who will not be identified by name, admit they ignore what's going on because it's a good "team building" experience for the class.

A private school administrator wouldn't say whether he'd report a student for having a Nerf gun or darts in the building.

"Although we are not directly affiliated with it, we are aware of it. We have in the past been supportive of the community when there have been issues with it," he says. "Would we endorse it overall as a school? I won't go on record as saying either way."

While it's only a game, some students take it very seriously. Seniors sometimes form conspiracies or mafias in order to help each other kill targets.

At the end of the two weeks, the senior with the most kills wins the game. Some schools play for prize money, though most are playing for bragging rights only.

This game has gone on for years, but the current school year has an underlying tension because of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in Connecticut where Adam Lanza opened fire killing 20 children and six adults.

All high schools in the country have a zero-tolerance policy against "dangerous weapons." Many districts also have rules against toy guns. In Seattle, for example, anyone who breaks the no-toy-gun rule has to enroll in a district-approved behavior modification program, primarily involving learning skills for anger and conflict management.

Obviously, some schools are more lenient than others in their definition of zero-tolerance.

Recently, a 7-year-old Maryland boy was recently suspended from school after biting a Pop Tart into a shape that his teacher thought looked like a gun. The school district even wrote letter to parents apologizing and offering counseling for anyone who was disturbed by the boy's actions.

This week in Pasco, a fifth-grade boy was temporarily suspended for just talking with another student about a new Nerf gun he had at home. The district has since admitted they were too cautious to pull him out of school since he did not have the toy gun with him and made no threats to anyone.

Parents' opinions of Senior Assassin ranges from "It's fun, let them blow off a little steam, it's no big deal" to "I can't believe a teacher would ignore this game if they know it's going on right under their noses."

What do you think - harmful or harmless?

By LINDA THOMAS

More from Linda Thomas

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Comments (50)


  • Add A Comment

  • Cash wrote...
    How about
    March 7, 2013 9:34 pm
    We let kids be kids and allow them to do the things that kids should be able to do. Like to eat a pop tart into a shape of a gun or play with nerf guns??? How about we hold them accountable if they bring a real gun to school becuase that is the issue, not pop tarts and play toys... My god what is wrong with this place these days? Offering counseling??? Give me a freaking break... I vote harmless let them play.
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  • CH wrote...
    Helll give your kid a loaded AK47
    March 8, 2013 5:07 am
    have a good day at school Johnny.
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  • Zagnut wrote...
    CH is the perfect lib
    March 8, 2013 5:40 am
    He's unable to distinguish between an AK47 and a pop tart bitten into the shape of a gun.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Chris Halliday wrote...
    Rules are rules
    March 8, 2013 6:22 am
    If it's against the rules of the school then abide by the rules. That's just the way it is kiddies. Life sucks sometimes. When I was a kid the funnest thing us guys played was "dart gun fights" at my rich friends house. The place was huge and many of the rooms were connected by doors. We'd shut off the lights and blast each other, die for 10 seconds, and just play 'til we got tired of it. Those were the days. There weren't headlines of mass killings the way there is today. NOT BY A LONG SHOT(pardon the pun)!!! You just have to be extra careful about what you say and do on school grounds. Do something unheard of these days, like your school work for crying out loud!!!
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  • Seattle Dad wrote...
    Frankly
    March 8, 2013 6:40 am
    I think the kids, in some cases, should be able to bring real guns to school or learn how to shoot real guns in a controlled environment. Not hidden in backpacks or in their desks. The goofy rhetoric about guns is mainly due to pure ignorance. If we're going to educate, let's provide some gun education. It's gotten to be where pointing your finger in a gun like motion can get you "dispended" makes my head explode. Zero tolerance means zero brains.
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  • mnpat wrote...
    " In Seattle, for example, anyone who breaks the no-toy-gun rule has to enroll in a district-approved behavior modification program"
    March 8, 2013 6:52 am
    What we have learned after numerous years of political correctness is the theory that we are completely incoherent and unable to survive without the assistance of government/media intervention, all of which appears to be lacking the ability to think on their own or possess even the smallest amount of common sense.
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  • TLucas wrote...
    Just having fun.
    March 8, 2013 7:03 am
    A version of this game was being played at my kids middle school in the fall. They were using markers. Once the paranoid teachers got wind any student with a "mark" was called in and questioned. Letters were sent home to parents. An email was issued as well. It was the most ridiculous waste of resources and time. Kids are so micro managed that when given the opportunity to think for themselves they freeze. Hand a child blank paper and simple art supplies and tell them to draw anything. I did this in an art class and the number of students who asked what am I supposed to draw was shocking. When told to draw whatever they want, one child started crying. He was afraid of choosing the wrong thing. Quit micromanaging, and over scheduling. Give children the opportunity to get board and then have to use their imagination and you will be amazed at what they can do, better yet so will they.
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  • mnpat wrote...
    Agree with you TLucas,
    March 8, 2013 8:00 am
    Todays politically correct liberal society is "behavior modification".
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  • Rick W7PSK wrote...
    The Whole Idea
    March 8, 2013 8:20 am
    is to manipulate and indoctrinate the kids not to think for themselves. People that think for themselves can then as adults reason when things are wrong. They want to make robots that will wait for Mommy Gov to tell them what to think and when to think it.

    I feel sorry and sad for future generations.

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  • Gate Keeper wrote...
    Time to go
    March 8, 2013 8:30 am
    What used to be public institutions of learning are now liberal indoctrination centers managed and staffed by idiots, morons and the worst kind of politically correct libtards. Indoctrination starts in K and goes on through 12 and beyond except for those smart enough to 1) not go to college or 2)drop out of college when they realize it is even worse than the K-12 mind bending and enroll in the tech or trade school of their interest. Get the gummint out of education and watch the learning begin.
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  • Saltchucker wrote...
    History repeating itself.
    March 8, 2013 8:32 am
    We did this at my high school in the late '80s. With an older version Nerf gun. We were inspired by the movie 'Gotcha'. The teaching staff looked the other way until almost half of the male students were playing and even then the beef wasn't about any physical danger.....it was the disruption of the school day. I guess the excitement was too much for them.
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  • Mavila wrote...
    This senseless violence...
    March 8, 2013 8:54 am
    is simply silly team-building fun after all. Someone please call Mayor Bloomberg.

    Pop tarts are dangerous though.

    Incidentally, Adam Lanza was not a student.

    80% of high school graduates in NYC don't possess adequate reading, writing or math skills.

    That's just about everything you need to know about the sorry state of many public school systems in this country.

    The sad thing is we all know that public schools are little more than "behavior modification programs."

    There was once a time not all that long ago when people of nearly all political stripes were revulsed by the thought of such things.

    It's so far away now that I don't know if we'll ever find our way back.

    The bigger they are the harder they fall.

    What do you think, Linda?

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  • TheNewsChick wrote...
    Mavila
    March 8, 2013 9:26 am
    There are so many double standards that bother me about education. In this case, when it's the popular kids playing Senior Assassins it's too easy to let it slide...yet if a kid who was a bit of a loner, for example, had a Nerf gun in his backpack any other time in the school year would he get in trouble? Yes. That's what I don't like.
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  • RnD_Fan wrote...
    Hey Linda...
    March 8, 2013 9:08 am
    I say "Harmful" because of the double standard.

    Shameful that the 'No-Tolerance' policies are extremely ridiculous,

    yet on the other hand, this is allowed.

    Don't get me wrong...

    I see no problem with the 'Game',

    I see a problem with the hypocrisy.

    The 'No-Tolerance' policies are really NOT...

    NO Tolerance then.

    Simple Logic.

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  • TheNewsChick wrote...
    RnD_Fan
    March 8, 2013 9:27 am
    Yep, exactly. I agree.
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