The game is called assassins. At Shawnee Mission South we are not allowed to call the game the game that, so the seniors all call it Gotcha.  Everyone is running around screaming “got you.”  Gotcha is a fun, stressful and exciting tradition that seniors look forward too all year. With the game happening right now and the first round ending Sunday, April 3, only the most intense people are left and things are heating up.

Only 30 out of over a 100 people are left standing. People are camping out in their cars, friends are turning on each other, and stalking doesn’t even cover the activities of most. I was apart of this game for the first week. I timed out at the end of the first week , like most people. I didn’t get my target within the week period. One thing students who are playing this intense game need to remember is just that, it is just a game.

There is no need to put yourself in danger for the sake of a game. People are hiding under cars and in garages. One person even got the cops called on him. How would you explain that to the police? In an attempt to get me one morning, my person jumped behind my car as I was backing out of the garage. That was really dangerous. I could have panicked and hit the gas instead of the brake and ran into her. Luckily nothing happened, but you never know.

My dad was worried for me as well. I got up early one morning in order to get my target. My friend and I drove to her house before the sun was up and hid behind her car and around her house. Looking back it probably wasn’t the best idea. The neighbors could think the wrong thing and call the cops or worse. Some nutcase with a gun could think we were burglars and shoot at us.  In this day and age civilians with guns are a real threat. Sneaking around a person’s house late at night to try to shoot them with a water gun is not worth getting shot with a real gun. I’m worried that one day that really will happen.In  an incident unrelated to Gotcha a dad shot his son sneaking back into his house late at night thinking the boy was a burglar.

Students need to be smart and safe when playing Gotcha. Think about  the purpose of the game; to have fun. It can be a lot of fun and create great memories of your senior year, but students need to know the risk of it. Students need to be safe, not stupid.