Since the publication of my romantic comedy
Shot Through the Heart I've received
several e-mails asking about Senior Assassin, the water gun tournament played
by the high school seniors in the story.
The questions focus on whether I made up the game, if I planned to post
the rules, and whether a high school could really have a tournament like this,
especially given the attention to school violence post-Columbine and other
school shootings.
As to the idea for the tournament itself, I can't claim
credit. Variations on Senior Assassin have been around for quite awhile, often
under names such as Gotcha, Water Gun Tag, Elimination, Paranoia, Killer, or simply Assassin.
I first heard of
sororities, fraternities, and student church groups hosting these tournaments
(or variations on them) when I was in college.
There's even a
Wikipedia entry on the topic.
I decided to include a Senior Assassin tournament in Shot
Through the Heart after realizing it would work well in my story as a means of
amping up both the internal and external conflict between the characters and
after hearing about a similar tournament at a high school not too far from my
home in Boston.
(Check out this
newspaper article about the tournament written by a member of
that high school's 2011 senior class.)
And face it: How hilarious is it to see a high school student climbing a tree at six a.m. while holding a water gun?
The idea behind these tournaments is one of school spirit or
team spirit, which is why they're often held by an organized group. Participants take great pride in
following the rules to the letter, as cheating is frowned upon by the
organization/class/team as a whole and honesty about being eliminated (or
"tagged") is valued. In
the case of high schools and colleges, games that get out of hand can result in
the group being subject to disciplinary action, which is another reason
participants are careful to follow the rules.
In the wake of Columbine and other episodes of school
violence, some organizations have opted to suspend these games. Others consider it all the more reason
to have them, as a means of building stronger community spirit within a group.
As a one-time Littleton, Colorado, resident (I attended
Columbine Elementary) I'm certainly aware of the debate regarding the wisdom of
these tournaments. For that
reason, as with the high school near Boston, I kept the tournament in my book
strictly an unofficial class activity that took place outside of school hours
and off school property, and made it clear that the participants took the rules
seriously, with infractions resulting in ejection from the tournament.
Regarding the rules of Senior Assassin: Depending on the organization, the
rules and "weapons" used in these tournaments vary. Sometimes participants are eliminated
by tagging each other with sticky notes or clothespins; in Shot Through the
Heart, the weapon was water (water guns, a hose, water balloons, etc.) I also included safe zones (no shooting
participants in their own homes, when they're in a vehicle, on school grounds,
or when they're at work) in order to make the tournament community-friendly. Other
rules included a prohibition on shooting non-participants and a requirement
that entrants report all "hits" immediately. In the story, as in many real-life
tournaments, two non-participants handled the organizational tasks.
If you've ever participated in one of these tournaments, I'd
love to hear your thoughts. Was
the experience positive or negative?
How was it organized? What rules
did you follow? Is it something
you'd recommend? Chime in!
