As the end of the school year is approaching, seniors at Big Sky High School have started an annual year-end tradition, Senior Assassin. 

 According to an article on Parents.com, Senior Assassin is a game many seniors all around the United States have been playing for decades. 

What started as a simple laser tag-like game played with water guns quickly turned into a high-stakes competition played out across neighborhoods, parking lots, and late-night stakeouts, the article explained. And Missoula area seniors are a part of it.  

“This game really brings out class spirit,” said Big Sky High School senior class president Cierra Maloney.

So how does this game work? Each team participating is assigned a target – another student – who they must try to eliminate by the end of every week with a water gun. One key rule that seniors generally forget is that your watergun cannot be battery powered. In order to confirm an elimination, it needs to be recorded on your phone; no video, no elimination. The game continues until one team, or two people, remains standing. 

But it’s not as easy as you may think it sounds. Every team has a safety item which protects them when they leave safety zones, which include your high school, church, when you are clocked in at work, and making it to Sunday, which is a safe day. The safety items that the game allows your team to have are either goggles, stuffed animals on a leash, floaties, and/or life vests. Important rules about two safety items: the goggles must be over your eyes in order to be safe and the stuffed animal on the leash needs to be visible in public and can’t be hidden.  

In order for you to eliminate your target, they need to be free of safety items when they’re in public or leave the safety zones. 

In a recent interview, Big Sky High School senior Ceecee Baldassin said she didn’t want to miss out on the fun but didn’t want to be directly in the water gun fight,  so she participated in hosting the game.  

“I don’t really like competing with people in that way, and I do not want to have to compete with my friends but I still wanted to be involved, so I thought I should run it,” Baldassin explained. 

Baldassin said it took her three weeks to prepare for the game with the sign ups and making the rules. The fee to enter the game was $20 per team and each team needed to come up with a team photo and team name before the deadline. Also, they needed to turn on their location always so their assassin can know where they are at all times. 

When the game started, she mentioned,  “I didn’t think they would take this game so seriously like it seems like it’s life or death for them.” 

While this game is supposed to represent fun and a last good memory of high school, there was a serious incident that occurred at Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville, Florida. An off duty cop shot a student because of a senior assassin. 

In an article on a local news website called  St John’s Citizen, the reporter writes that an off duty officer shot a Bishop Kenny Senior high schooler as he was trying to eliminate his target in the officer’s residence. The officer mentions how he saw three teens running through his residence and saw the one holding the water gun and shot him in the arm because he mentions how the water gun looks too real. 

In the article, County Sheriff Bill Leeper said, “These types of games may seem innocent, but when young people sneak around in the dark wearing masks and carrying objects that could be mistaken for weapons, it creates a potentially deadly situation.”  He also mentioned how this incident demonstrates exactly why parents need to take this seriously and speak to their kids about the dangers of these games with their friends. 

While seniors note they are enjoying the game, teachers and staff have other opinions. 

“I have a zero tolerance policy for weapons, even if it’s a fake one,” said Big Sky Principal Jennifer Courtney.  

Big Sky’s school resource officer, Christian Cameron, echoed Courtney’s thoughts. 

“Yeah, it’s not the best game idea,” Cameron said.  “Any sort of fake weaponry, even if it’s like a squirt gun, could potentially lead to very dangerous consequences.” 

But teachers and staff at Big Sky are not the only ones concerned about this game. According to an article published by USA Today, police officers around the USA have been giving warnings about this game to seniors, and some have even been arrested as they’ve participated in this game. 

The article also mentions how this game is supposed to be playful, but can end with arrests and violence.  For example, the article mentioned an 18-year-old senior in Portage, Indiana, who waited outside of a Planet Fitness parking lot to eliminate his target, but instead got arrested. 

Also, in West Dundee, Illinois, a high schooler went to pick up their sibling from middle school and they saw their target there and they tried to eliminate them, but was arrested for bringing a weapon on school property. However, in the article,  police are quoted as saying, “We want all seniors to enjoy this season, make memories, and do so in a way that keeps everyone safe.”

As of April 27, there are 25 out of 112 players still in the game, which usually lasts until graduation, sometimes longer. According to members of the Big Sky Class of 2025, their game kept going after their graduation.  

Even though not all adults and administrators are on board, many seniors feel Senior Assassin is an overall positive experience. 

“Senior Assassin is a great way to end the year because it is a final game to have with your friends and the money is good if you win it,” Kyler Laroque, a Big Sky senior, said. 

Baldassin expressed similar thoughts. 

“This game is really good at bringing everyone together for one last time,” Baldassin said.