At Eleanor Roosevelt High School, there’s a tradition called Senior Assassin. It’s not just limited to only ERHS, thousands of other schools do it as well. It’s an annual springtime tradition, and you can find it actually dates back to 1980’s as a form of water tag.
Seniors enter the game here by paying a small fee, typically $10, and are found on Instagram, which another person sets up, a ‘host’. That money is entered into a ‘pot’, and the winner of the game gets the money. In the beginning, seniors are assigned to teams, and the goal is to eliminate other teams and players by ‘tagging’ them with water. You use water guns to tag the players, and there are rules attached to it.
Players are allowed safety by wearing an arm float or swim goggles, so if they were tagged while wearing it, they wouldn’t be out of the game. If a player is not wearing their safety and is tagged by their assassin, then they are out of the game. The assassin has to record their tag and upload it as proof that they got them out legally.
People may think the game sounds easy; you can just wear your swim goggles or float the whole time. However, there are days called ‘purge days’ where there is no safety. Even if you were wearing them and you got tagged, you would be out.
“I was at the store trying to buy snacks, and down the shopping aisle I saw two kids wearing floaties and swim goggles. It was the funniest thing.” Said Michon Bush, a student at ERHS.
There are other rules to make sure the players are safe and responsible as well, and it’s important to remember and follow them. You cannot tag your target during school hours on campus, or practices and special events. You can’t tag at places of worship or work as well. And you can’t break into homes, or anything illegal like reckless driving. Targets are also safe inside a moving vehicle as well.
“I can’t wait to join next year,” Amira Lacy, a junior, said, “I see all the kids after school wearing their floaties and holding a water gun.”
This tradition is a very fun and off-campus activity. Students love it, and many teachers think it’s a fun idea and love the concept behind it. It’s a great end for students in their final year at high school, and it creates memories they can look back on. Overall, students should be encouraged to partake in the activity safely and have fun in their senior year.
