Water guns in hand, seniors across the nation — including those at Carlmont High School — are joining “Senior Assassin,” a multi-week game that marks the countdown to summer.

The thrilling, high-stakes elimination game, where students tag opponents with water guns — sometimes for a cash prize — has become increasingly controversial in context with rising gun violence among youth.

While many students perceive the game as an ultimate water gun fight to celebrate the end of senior year before college, some administrators and school officials view it as a potential safety risk to students and their communities.

The game has been an existing tradition at Carlmont High School. However, its initiation last Monday has sparked renewed concerns among administrators, efforts by adults to discourage participation, and the implementation of revised rules in light of an incident that transpired last year.

According to Belmont Police Department Lieutenant Clyde Hussey, an armed police response on campus was triggered after a student was seen with an imitation firearm. A community member, concerned that it resembled a real gun based on how it looked and was handled, called 911.

“There wasn’t an actual weapon, but obviously there’s concerns for the safety of the campus, and it clearly freaked a lot of people out,” Hussey said.

Hussey said that at least one of the callers was related to the daycare that’s on campus.

“You can imagine the concern of a daycare teacher that’s responsible for a bunch of three, four, or five-year-olds when they think there might be someone on campus with a weapon,” Hussey said.

Pivoting this year, seniors are playing this game on the Splashin app, led by anonymous hosts unaffiliated with the Associated Student Body (ASB) or Carlmont High School.

Due to last year’s incident, the game’s administrators have imposed new restrictions to prevent conflicts or any affiliation with the school. Players who break the rules face the harsh consequence of elimination.

“There are now strict regulations on water guns and where you can get people, which I think has greatly helped regulate the risks,” said Chris Shirley*, an ASB senior participating in the game.

As Shirley noted, one of the new rules introduced is the mandate to use a specific, unmodified water gun. The brightly colored water gun is encouraged for public use to prevent any confusion.

Furthermore, there has been significant emphasis placed on where targets are allowed to be tagged. Schools, including parking lots — both inside and in front of the school — are entirely off-limits. Additionally, places of worship and private property, such as homes, are restricted, though driveways, front lawns, and porches are permitted spaces.

In addition to the school location being off-limits, the game hosts have indicated that they want to avoid any affiliation with the school. They have stipulated that players may not search, shoot, or chase targets at sports games and practices, as well as school and club events for Carlmont teams.

“If it’s not supposed to be on private property, that means you’re in public. And now, if you’re running around in public, down the sidewalk, or through the park with imitation firearms, you’re still kind of generating the same issues,” Hussey said.

Differing views: more than a game

While 210 students of the senior class have decided to participate in “Senior Assassin,” many adults at Carlmont express their concern, particularly about the game’s potential to have harmful effects on the local community and the general connotations of gun violence.

Principal Gay Buckland-Murray says that the underlying cultural issues are a considerable concern for her.

“I find a cognitive dissonance between the facts and reality of having to go through lockdowns, barricades, and things that we’re working so hard on to keep young people safe with the glamorization of this game,” Buckland-Murray said.

According to Buckland-Murray, it surprised her that people were not seeing that connection. She brings up that gun violence is the leading cause of death among young people.

“I think we work really hard at Carlmont to promote critical thinking. I haven’t heard yet from students the ability to really critically think through, ‘Oh yeah, we see a connection between the casual use of violence in public and the glamorization of games like this,’” Buckland-Murray said.

As this game is completely unaffiliated with Carlmont, Buckland-Murray’s and other school officials’ scope of jurisdiction is limited.

Some find themselves caught in the middle, trying to balance the concerns of teachers and administration with the rights and wishes of the students.

The week before “Senior Assassin” began, the Choir Director and Department Chair of Performing Arts Genevieve Tep sent out a Canvas announcement saying “any senior choir student found to be participating will be stripped of all awards (no senior honor medal) and will not be allowed to perform at the pops concert.”

According to Tep, her opposition primarily stems from the risk of water guns being mistaken for real weapons, especially in low-light conditions, and due to the way police may respond in a crisis.

“My concern is that kids get hurt because either the police are called or a neighbor thinks they have to defend their property because they saw people sneaking around the neighborhood with guns,” Tep said.

Tep emphasizes that while players may see them as harmless water guns, the police may not have that option. In high-pressure situations, officers must make quick decisions and may not have the time to recognize that it’s seniors participating in the game.

“When you’ve got kids running around all over town, hunting each other down, hiding, and all kinds of stuff, it involves the entire community,” Tep said.

Tep’s concern that this was something that could divert resources away from the Belmont Police Department is echoed by Hussey.

“If we get a call from a couple of kids that are reported to have what looks like weapons or firearms on a school campus, that causes a lot of cops to rush to that campus and try to get there quickly to address that. That draws away resources from whatever else is going on in the city, whether that’s medical aid issues, thefts, or other crimes that are in progress,” Hussey said.

Additionally, Hussey brings up the issue that police driving quickly could bring up other sorts of civil disturbances such as the possibility of getting into a crash.

Another apprehensive teacher is Carlmont Activities Director Jim Kelly who advised his ASB students not to participate in “Senior Assassin.” According to Kelly, he doesn’t want it to come down to giving specific consequences just to hinder ASB seniors from participating in the game.

“I don’t have specific consequences. I would think that the natural consequences would be the reason why somebody would learn and be motivated to take my advice, not consequences that I pull out of thin air,” Kelly said.

From Tep’s point of view, she felt strongly about announcing consequences for seniors in choir who were opting into the game.

“I made the consequences kind of big because I need my seniors to understand how dangerous I think it is. I know water guns aren’t dangerous, but it’s the game. It’s being all over the community and everything all the time. It’s sketchy,” Tep said.

As a result, she felt it necessary to implement a warning.

”I’m sort of willing to put myself on the line a little bit and push the boundaries of what I would normally do,” Tep said.

However, Tep emphasizes that she would not be willing to go into legal ramifications.

“It’s not that I’m willing to break Ed Code or anything like that, but I do think there’s some gray area in there that’s worth standing my ground on at least a little bit. And obviously, if Ms. Buckland-Murray tells me I can’t do it, I can’t do it,” Tep said.

Sanctioning participation in an outside school event is against the California Education Code (Ed Code).

Specifically, California Ed Code 48950 stipulates that schools “shall not make or enforce a rule subjecting a high school pupil to disciplinary sanctions solely on the basis of conduct that is speech or other communication that, when engaged in outside of the campus, is protected from governmental restriction by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution.”

“If there are no water wings worn on campus, if there are no squirt guns on campus, any of that stuff, then it’s outside of my jurisdiction,” Buckland-Murray said.

Risk and reward: student perspectives

Given the alleged consequences Tep announced via Canvas, Madison Carson*, a senior in choir, was uneasy about participating in the game.

“I was really upset when Ms. Tep said I couldn’t play because I’ve been looking forward to it for so long. The reason why ultimately I ended up saying no to playing was because I was worried that I would fail my choir class,” Carson said.

While, as it stands, Tep was not going to give a grade penalty, there were other things such as pulling students out of the “Pops Concert” and removing their honor awards, as mentioned.

With Tep’s Canvas message sent out to both choir students and parents, she stated that she did not condone participation in this game of any sort, saying, “This game very nearly led to a tragedy last year on campus. I have zero tolerance for this, as should all senior parents, and the seniors.”

Due to Tep’s initial decision to impose strict consequences, there are no longer any choir seniors participating in the game.

“I understand Ms. Tep’s reasoning because when she explained it to our class, I saw all the dangers and possible police activity that could’ve come of it,” Carson said.

Over the years, “Senior Assassin” has become a tradition that seniors look forward to in the spring.

“I wanted to participate because I heard about how fun it was last year, and I’m pretty competitive, so I thought it would be a fun way to do this outside of school,” Carson said.

However, students still understand that there are risks to participating in the game; one area of concern is the Splashin App, where the locations of the students are tracked at all times.

“The main con is the liability with active combat, but if you’re smart about it, I think it’s okay,” Shirley said. “I just trust myself to be smart and not do something stupid.”

Rethinking traditions

The debate over “Senior Assassin” gives light to the issue of gun violence in America. To some, it serves as a stark reminder of the nation’s gun culture.

“Given where we are in the world, when you’re running around with imitation firearms, especially if you think of ‘Senior Assassin,’ the goal is to kind of surprise people. So, if people don’t know what’s going on, that’s kind of what happened in that case last year at Carlmont,” Hussey said.

There has been apprehension surrounding the connotation of the game, especially due to how water guns may appear as firearms as well as the game’s name.

However, some students still do not feel that “Senior Assassin” is an attempt to glamorize weapons.

“It’s just a game; it’s not about violence or anything,” Shirley said.

Some suggestions for the future of the game include switching over to a different method for “tagging” others. According to Buckland-Murray, she even suggested using stickers as an alternative to water guns.

“I wish everyone could just throw water balloons,” Tep said.

Although there are safety concerns regarding “Senior Assassin,” which are acknowledged by students, many still see it as a core part of the senior experience.

“It’s a fun way for the senior class to come together for the last time. While it’s competitive, I think I’ve really gotten to know people,” Shirley said.

*In accordance with Carlmont Media’s anonymous sourcing policy, the names of these sources have been changed to protect them from social consequences.

This story was originally published on Scot Scoop News on March 31, 2025.