As the end of high school approached, Lindbergh seniors looked for a lasting memory with friends. Starting on March 27, many seniors participated in Senior Splash. Senior Splash is a non-sanctioned, off-campus game in which students must pay a $10 entry fee to participate. Seniors pay to play, and the money is pooled towards the prize. The game is scheduled to end on July 1, and all remaining participants must split the prize money, which is estimated around $1,700. Each participant is assigned targets who they must eliminate using a water source to win.
However, game materials are not limited to water soakers but include water balloons, buckets, cups or other containers. Senior Kate Basler expanded on the rules of the game.
“Every single person who wants to play is a senior, and everybody is given a target. Your goal is to eliminate your target with a water source, or get them wet in some way, to get them out,” Basler said.
Participants can wear protective gear to be temporarily safe from elimination, but protective gear differs for each game.
“So the whole thing of the game is trying to keep yourself safe by wearing your safety item, which for our school is goggles, but you’re also trying to get other people out. At first, we had to wear our goggles around our neck, then it moved to our forehead, and now we have to wear our goggles on our eyes to be safe. While you’re trying to get your target out, there is also someone after you,” Basler said.
While intended as a harmless game, Lindbergh students must exercise caution. Across the United States, participating teens are facing legal consequences. Law enforcement officers are trained to take lethal force in response to an armed threat, according to CBS News. In that same article, law enforcement from Lawrence, Massachusetts warned about safety concerns regarding the game.
“While these activities may seem harmless, they can create dangerous situations and lead to serious legal consequences,” Lawrence police said.
Participating students must be aware of their surroundings and consider how the game could be misinterpreted by the public.
Senior Stella Ortwerth shared how game materials may conflict with current issues.
“There’s some issues because not everybody knows the game, and so some people think that the water [source] is a real gun. With how the United States is today, that can be kind of problematic,” Ortweth said.
To limit the risk of danger, game coordinators enforce strict rules. Rule violations result in immediate disqualification.
“I think all of our rules are pretty strict… I personally have been more aware, I know there have been some people who walked into different places with a watergun ready to shoot someone. I get a little bit more leery doing that because it’s hard to tell what’s real versus what’s a water gun. I don’t want to scare people,” Basler said.
Senior Splash can be a fun and safe game. Although the game is not school sanctioned, Senior Splash can foster school spirit through a common tradition.
“It’s kind of just like a fun little last hurrah. It helped me learn more about my classmates I never would have talked to before. Almost everybody is playing it, then you have something you can talk about with almost anybody. It just helps you connect with more people in your grade that you might not have before,” Ortwerth said.
