Imagine looking out your window late at night and there is a stranger creeping in the bush, sitting behind a trash can or a car. Most people would panic and chaos could ensue.

     But for the next few weeks that is the new normal for parents of Penn-Trafford High School students who are playing assassin.

     Assassin is an annual tradition at P-T where students sign up in pairs to receive another pair of “targets” and have a week to soak one of their targets with a water gun to “eliminate” them. The game keeps going until there is just one pair left, and the winning team gets ⅔ of the money that people gave to play – the rest of the pool goes to the two seniors who run the game, who were chosen by the previous game runners from the year before.

    

While the game is not endorsed by the high school itself, it seems to dominate the talk of the school with conversions of who eliminated who overflowing from classrooms to hallways to the cafeteria. But despite the popularity of it, the game poses a serious threat to students.

     The first danger and the biggest one is the safety risk for players and those around them. Due to the fact that someone cannot eliminate a person on school grounds or during school activities, it leaves most people to stalk their target at their house or work. This could lead to students driving recklessly while trying to get away or get their target, leading to car accidents.

     “I think sometimes kids will drive erratically and they go over the top whenever it comes to the game,” stated a P-T High School teacher who requested anonymity.

     Another safety risk is when a person is waiting for someone at their home, the owner of that home or a neighbor could get frightened by a stranger in their yard, leading to possible dangerous confrontations.

     “There was a time that I came out of my house and there was two students from [redacted] hiding behind my garbage can and I screamed,” stated the same P-T teacher, who has a child that plays assassin at another local school, “and then I came to school and the scare had affected my blood sugar problems so much I had to go home.”

     On top of the safety threats, the game also has a possible effect on students’ learning.

     Many students have come to school late or even not at all in order to avoid whoever has them as a target. This game causes students to miss out on learning simply because they do not want to get splashed. It also has been a talk of the entire school as kids have spent class time away from learning as they discuss the game.

     The last danger from the game is the psychological aspect. It does something to a child to force them to watch their back every time they walk outside. The fear of getting eliminated – while trying to figure out who has them – stresses students, especially on top of living their everyday lives. This can affect a student’s overall wellbeing.

     While, yes, the game has some positives such as forcing kids outside along with more face-to-face interaction and the overall enjoyment that many kids experience while playing, the slim positives do not outweigh the negative impact upon students’ safety, education and mental wellbeing. 

     Just think about it, would you want some unknown high schooler creeping around your yard?

By Mia Williams, Managing Editor