In 1982, Steve Jackson published Killer: The Game of Assassination, laying out rules and regulations for groups to run a game now known as Senior Assassin. Originally, the game was commonly played by college students using dart guns (like Nerf foam dart shooters), but the concept quickly expanded to take place in high school communities, using water guns and water balloons, across the country.
This year, like years past, Indian Hills seniors organized a Senior Assassin game via Instagram. 150 students participated in the game, each paying $5 to join, making the cash prize $720 (the $30 unaccounted for went towards organizing the event). The large reward drew much attention, as it is equivalent to, if not greater than, many scholarships offered to the student body by local organizations.
School administrators issued a warning on Schoology, advising students to keep the game off of school grounds. Senior students participating in the game often play in public places, spraying their targets in parking lots, outside their homes, and in grocery stores. Vice Principal Mr. Bushta posted on Schoology on behalf of the administration, saying, “While we understand the playful intention of this type of activity, this behavior poses a potentially serious and elevated risk for a dangerous interaction or safety hazard.” With players often waiting in parked cars in neighborhoods and carrying objects looking like guns, community members may express concerns about their safety, calling upon local law enforcement.
Last year, in a Facebook post, Livingston police posted, “The last thing we want is a kid to be mistaken for a criminal. […] We want to be clear that we DO NOT condone this game.” Several other town and county police departments have issued similar warnings to students. It is important that players do not run from the police, avoid playing after dark, and use brightly colored water guns to avoid being mistaken for a real gun.
Student water gun attacks are posted on the Instagram page to establish who is in or out of the game. The rules and roster are also posted on the account. Videos of the “assassination” are uploaded alongside a selfie of the target and attacker onto the Instagram account. The account has over 300 followers and more than 90 posts.
Senior students enjoy Senior Assassin as a way to connect with their peers in a playful way before graduating into adulthood. In the IH senior community game, there were four rounds, during which each team was assigned a new target.
The organizer of the game, Emma Locilento, said, “I started the Senior Assassin game frankly because no one else was going to! Everyone wanted to play the game so no one wanted to run it. If you run the game, you cannot play. I didn’t mind not playing, so I decided to run it!” When asked about the challenges faced in organizing the game, Locilento responded, “Trying to make sure everyone is on the same page and understand my rules of the game has been challenging. I have had a hard time trying to get others to understand some rules. I tried to make them as clear as possible to avoid confusion!” Keeping the game away from school grounds was important to keep the game running smoothly. Locilento stated, “I have kept the game out of school by not allowing students to eliminate each other during school hours or on school property. I made those a priority when creating the rules of the game and hold others accountable to it.”
Chris Cheff, a participant in the game, explained, “I joined [senior assassin] because it looked like fun. I have been waiting for it since I saw someone else’s elimination from last year. We had a game strategy where one person would be on the attack and one would try to stay safe. [My partner and I] would switch when needed, but then [my partner] got out.” Cheff and his partner were eliminated in round two.
Shavonne Farley, another participant in the game, commented, “I joined pretty much just for fun and because it seems like kind of a senior rite of passage. I actually didn’t even realize there was a cash prize until after I got out.” Farley shares that her favorite memory from Senior Assassin was “Watching my assassin partner hide in someone’s bush at 6:30 am from my car […]. I was also once at a friend’s house, and her assassins were trying to lure her out by screaming super loud in her backyard, which effectively scared the whole party of people, but didn’t quite work.” Farley and her partner got out during round one after Farley was attacked on the first day of the game.
Though there were some disputes over rules, as there are every year, students enjoyed playing and took the game seriously. There were no reported incidents in the community. The last round of the IH community Senior Assassin ended before prom weekend, allowing for the winning teams to celebrate and all teams to relax.
