As spring rolls on, so does the high school tradition of Senior Splashin’.
Essentially a game of tag, at its core it’s a game of survival. Seniors try to eliminate their target by shooting them with a water gun or any form of water. While the rules vary by school, for Cleveland, school grounds are considered a safe spot, as well as school-sponsored athletic events, such as practices and competitions. Anything else is considered fair game.
The viral phenomenon also comes with a hefty prize pot for the winner – $840 this year – and the winner takes it all. With so much money at stake, many players take the game seriously, engaging in long stakeouts and orchestrating elaborate trickery in their strategy to advance in the game. This year’s game had 183 participants, in a senior class of 360 students, amounting to half of the senior class participating.
The game is organized by senior class co-president, Emerson Britton. It began on April 1, and at the time of writing, is still ongoing with nine participants left in the game.
Players pay a $5 fee to participate; however, you can upgrade to “premium” for an extra $20. Premium makes it much easier to track and eliminate your target because their location gets updated more often, and you can see the speed of your target to know if they are walking or driving. You also get an exclusive premium badge and a built in navigation system to find your target.
Senior Eleanor Allabastro is not a fan of the premise, saying, “People who buy premium are bums.”
Wearing floaties and goggles gives players protection from elimination; goggles have to be worn above your neck. Both floaties and goggles have to be visible at all times. Your kill has to be filmed and it will be posted to the app and on social media for it to count. The game is played exclusively outside of school hours (8:30 a.m. – 3:34 p.m.).
“It’s really anxiety inducing, I’m scared to go outside, and I had a headache this whole week from wearing goggles that are too tight, so that’s basically my experience, but I made it to round two,” said Sara Cass.
Everything is all arranged through an app called “Splashin’.” There is an in-app chat, live map to track players, a spot for photo and video uploads, an organized target assignment system and a feed to stay updated.
“I think the rules were good, there was a lot of debate in the group chat about which rules were fair or not, so I think it would’ve been better to discuss beforehand,” shared Persephone Nolan.
Tuesday is “Purge Day,” meaning that seniors are not allowed to wear any form of protection. By the end of the day, if you have not reached your target, you are then eliminated from the game. If you are successful in eliminating your target, you get a new target the next day.
While the most popular form of eliminations include high stakes chases and ambushes, there is another popular method: bribes. Students offer a bribe to their target so that they have a guarantee on making it to the next round.
While individual seniors have mixed feelings about the game, most consider it to be a plus for the senior class. They view it as something that brings the class closer together, and something that ends their final year in high school on a high note.
The Cleveland Administration also views Senior Splashin’ as a positive aspect of senior year, for the most part. Vice Principal Sean Murray said he believes it to be a fun thing that the senior class can do, as something that brings them together at the end of their high school career. He added the caveat that showing a water gun on school grounds is never acceptable and it will result in suspension. The game should always remain outside of school and not distract students while they are in class.
The game however, is not all positive. This year multiple conflicts have arisen due to disagreement on the rules and the constant changing of the game.
One of the key conflicts arose due to the “drive by” in which senior Saylor Manning eliminated her target from her car into another student’s vehicle. While at the time the car was not moving, viewers of the video claimed to hear a clink and were led to assume that the two cars had collided.
“Well, my favorite kill was my friend Saylor, and I helped her get her target Saturday,” said Nolan. “It was a little controversial.” According to Nolan, the person who filmed the video, the cars were at a standstill, and the noise in the video is a car door being closed.
Despite the fact that there was no collision or damage, it still led to confusion about whether people can do “drive by” eliminations. People have raised safety concerns around the idea of high school seniors driving and simultaneously trying to shoot other drivers with water guns. Many believe this makes things much less safe for drivers in the area.
There has also been conflict about stealing protective gear at school. An unassuming senior left his goggles out in class, and they were stolen later, leading Murray to ban the theft of protective gear at school.
Multiple seniors have also expressed exhaustion and frustration with the constant arguing and changing of rules in the Senior Splashin’ group chat. Many feel that the constant changing of rules makes the game less fun and that it takes away from the experience.
The person in charge of the rules is the organizer, Emerson Britton. According to her, she’s the one in charge of the rules but uses input from the senior class when making decisions.
This year there have also been quite a few seniors who have chosen to opt out of the game altogether.
“I would prefer not to be salted outside my bushes, or squirted in the face with water,” said Addy Sedilla. Others simply believed the game was not worth the stress.
Overall, most view this game as a fun highlight at the end of senior year, bringing a lighthearted activity to students wrecked by stress about grades and college. The game however, must always remain safe and respectful, and bring the senior class together one final time.
