Money, secrets, and water guns. These have been the subject of conversation amongst high school seniors across the country, and Herron High School is no exception. Since February of this year, Herron Seniors have been competing in the game known as Senior Assassin (its more PG name being Senior Splash), which is a senior only competition that involves being assigned a target that you have to get out by squirting them with a water gun. The tricky part is someone also has you as their target. After each week, people who were taken out by their assassin or were unable to get their target out are eliminated, the pool gets smaller and participants are assigned a new target for that round.

But what motivates seniors to participate in a game that requires its players to sneak around their classmates and possibly be ambushed by a water gun in the process? Perhaps it’s the glory of being that years Senior Assassin champion or maybe it’s the pot of money that the champion earns if they win. Each entry into the game cost participants $10, and if were taken out of the game you could by yourself back in for $5.

For the first few rounds, seniors were on edge. Some were planning their ambush on their target, others were making alliances. “Tensions were high between everyone and no one knew what to expect,” Says Joselyn Cisco, a senior who participated in Senior Assassin, “In my opinion the first week was the best”. However, administration at Herron saw the game differently.

Administration has implemented many rules to keep Senior Assassin off of school campus. Many students have have had their water guns taken from them as there is a rule that bans them from the school campus. Perhaps the administration does not feel that the game is representative of their values?

But maybe there is some valid concern that administration has with specifically Senior Assassin. Another notable rule of the game is that assassins cannot attempt to get their targets on school campus, which requires students to get creative with their attacks. Many assassins scout out information about the whereabouts of their target, which includes the places the frequent, their work, and home address. When asked about her personal experiences with her assassin, Joselyn says “I got surrounded by cars at work, I was absolutely terrified” but despite her fear, Joselyn also states that “trying to escape was so exciting and I appreciate my assassin for being dedicated to the game”

Herron seniors participate in a plethora of traditions that are reserved for seniors, such as senior skip day, senior sunrise, and senior breakfast, which are all relatively harmless and administration approved activities. So what is the appeal of being hunted by your classmates? Is is the money or is it the thrill of the chase? Joselyn says that the game “brings together the senior class” and that what makes the game unique from other senior class events is the competition of the game.

So what do you think? Is there value in competition based games or should Herron seniors hang Senior Assassin out to dry