FRANKLIN, Mass. — The tag-like game of assassins has been a rite of passage at Franklin High School, but this year administrators are trying to do away with it.
The game is played by seniors and the premise is simple – shoot another student assigned to you as a target with silly string or a water gun to eliminate them. Don't get shot and you continue to advance.
“We’ve been doing it for so long that it’s just become a tradition so it’s something we want to keep doing,” Paige Ringer, a senior at Franklin HS, said.
That tradition is now in jeopardy after school officials explained that they want it to end, even though it's not affiliated with or sanctioned by the school.
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In light of recent events like the Parkland school shooting and the subsequent walkout by students across the country, including at Franklin High School, the game appears hypocritical. [Read the full letter below]
Students told Boston 25 News they never looked at how the game and the school shooting were tied together.
“At the end of senior year kids are just excited to do it again, so they didn’t really make the connection between all the school shootings that have been happening,” Ringer said.
While students now understand the school’s concern, putting a stop to the game might not be so simple.
“I know the kids like to do it. It’s kind of a fun traditional thing that they’ve done in past years,” Melissa Ringer, Paige’s mother, said. “They could probably think of something different to do after the Florida issue.”
FULL LETTER FROM FRANKLIN HS ADMINISTRATORS: