What do you guys think about the following...

[YourPittDanceTeam]

I am the Head Coach of a local high school sports team. The name of the school and the sport are not relevant to my question, so I will not name them.
Any way, today I was working with one of my players and I asked him how his week went. Last week he told me that he entered into a "game" that was being played by quite a few upperclass students in his school. The game was called something along the lines of "Squirt Gun Assassination". Basically the game participants are paired into groups of two players and they are given the names of another group of two students that they are supposed to "assassinate" with a squirt gun. There are some basic rules that all must follow but they do allow people to wait outside peoples home, places of work, at the mall, etc... . They are not allowed to pursue their targets during school, at school related events of on school property. There are more rules, but I do not know all of them.
So when II asked him how his week went, he told me they got their "targets". Then he told me something that blew my mind. He told me almost got caught last weekend when he was getting ready to go work. His car was parked in the driveway and the families garage door was open. He said that is sister happened to be walking out the door in front of him and she jumped back and screamed. Believe it or not, two of the kids who were supposed to "assassinate" him and his friend were lying in wait inside his garage. Evidently, the rules allow the players to enter the garage area of their target if the door is open.
I asked the kid what happened. He laughed and said nothing, they left without accomplishing their goal. I asked him what his dad did who was in the house at the time. He laughed and said nothing. I told him if that was my home and those people were in my garage, there was a good chance that someone may have gotten hurt or shot.
Am I over reacting to this situation or would you guys have handled the situation like his dad?

 

[pittzap]

I almost got “shot” in my garage last week as I was getting out of my car because it was dark and my daughter’s “assassin” was lying in wait. I knew the game was being played, but thought it was obvious that I wasn’t my daughter and wondered what would have happened if I was carrying a gun and someone crept up on me?

In my daughter’s school, there have been many issues with this game, as some squirt guns look real, some kids go to extremes to get their target, police have been called, minor car accidents have happened, standoffs in parking lots have occurred (a target was blocked in by their assassin, who was then blocked in by their assassin). Some kids have even gotten injured being chased (broken ankle).

This is not a school backed function and the winner this year will get $2,500, so I don’t know how to stop it other than not allowing your kids to play. It seems like it would be fun if you were a senior, but the fact that it’s played in public is becoming more and more problematic. I told my daughter that they should think about making the “guns” the small, brightly colored obvious looking squirt guns to at least give everyone else the idea it’s just a game.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

i tell you, you guys shut down schools, stores and mess with the social order of things, everyone is awkward around each other, the emotional and mature growth gets delayed and this is what happens.. high school kids playing with squirt guns..

these kids should be out in the woods drinking beer and bird-dogging each other and instead, they are playing with squirt guns..

 

[pittdan77]

i tell you, you guys shut down schools, stores and mess with the social order of things, everyone is awkward around each other, the emotional and mature growth gets delayed and this is what happens.. high school kids playing with squirt guns..

You know how many grown adults play airsoft war on the weekend?

The stuff we did when we were younger was probably infinitely more stupid. Screwing around with cars is a bit too much but it's a game with toys. I can think of worse ways for kids to screw around.

 

[Jeffburgh]

i tell you, you guys shut down schools, stores and mess with the social order of things, everyone is awkward around each other, the emotional and mature growth gets delayed and this is what happens.. high school kids playing with squirt guns..

these kids should be out in the woods drinking beer and bird-dogging each other and instead, they are playing with squirt guns..

Yes, cause drinking in the woods is super unawkward. Teens have been awkward like forever.

That said, this game has been around literally decades. Its part of the plot of Big Trouble released in 2002.

 

[Jeffburgh]

I am the Head Coach of a local high school sports team. The name of the school and the sport are not relevant to my question, so I will not name them.
Any way, today I was working with one of my players and I asked him how his week went. Last week he told me that he entered into a "game" that was being played by quite a few upperclass students in his school. The game was called something along the lines of "Squirt Gun Assassination". Basically the game participants are paired into groups of two players and they are given the names of another group of two students that they are supposed to "assassinate" with a squirt gun. There are some basic rules that all must follow but they do allow people to wait outside peoples home, places of work, at the mall, etc... . They are not allowed to pursue their targets during school, at school related events of on school property. There are more rules, but I do not know all of them.
So when II asked him how his week went, he told me they got their "targets". Then he told me something that blew my mind. He told me almost got caught last weekend when he was getting ready to go work. His car was parked in the driveway and the families garage door was open. He said that is sister happened to be walking out the door in front of him and she jumped back and screamed. Believe it or not, two of the kids who were supposed to "assassinate" him and his friend were lying in wait inside his garage. Evidently, the rules allow the players to enter the garage area of their target if the door is open.
I asked the kid what happened. He laughed and said nothing, they left without accomplishing their goal. I asked him what his dad did who was in the house at the time. He laughed and said nothing. I told him if that was my home and those people were in my garage, there was a good chance that someone may have gotten hurt or shot.
Am I over reacting to this situation or would you guys have handled the situation like his dad?

This has been a thing for a long time, particularly down south. In and of itself innocent fun, but in our increasingly gun obsessed and trigger happy country, much more likely to have something horrible happen. Basically, as usual, the adults are the potential problem.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I am the Head Coach of a local high school sports team. The name of the school and the sport are not relevant to my question, so I will not name them.
Any way, today I was working with one of my players and I asked him how his week went. Last week he told me that he entered into a "game" that was being played by quite a few upperclass students in his school. The game was called something along the lines of "Squirt Gun Assassination". Basically the game participants are paired into groups of two players and they are given the names of another group of two students that they are supposed to "assassinate" with a squirt gun. There are some basic rules that all must follow but they do allow people to wait outside peoples home, places of work, at the mall, etc... . They are not allowed to pursue their targets during school, at school related events of on school property. There are more rules, but I do not know all of them.
So when II asked him how his week went, he told me they got their "targets". Then he told me something that blew my mind. He told me almost got caught last weekend when he was getting ready to go work. His car was parked in the driveway and the families garage door was open. He said that is sister happened to be walking out the door in front of him and she jumped back and screamed. Believe it or not, two of the kids who were supposed to "assassinate" him and his friend were lying in wait inside his garage. Evidently, the rules allow the players to enter the garage area of their target if the door is open.
I asked the kid what happened. He laughed and said nothing, they left without accomplishing their goal. I asked him what his dad did who was in the house at the time. He laughed and said nothing. I told him if that was my home and those people were in my garage, there was a good chance that someone may have gotten hurt or shot.
Am I over reacting to this situation or would you guys have handled the situation like his dad?

HS seniors play that game in a lot of places. I am sure one of these kids will get accidentally shot by a homeowner, but nationwide, it hasnt happened yet

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

i feel like there was a movie in early 80s like this, called tag. same concept but with paint ball guns. until someone of course started killing people for real. but it was on a college campus. I want to say "Goose" From top gun was in it..

EDIT: Nope, called "Gotcha".

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

You know how many grown adults play airsoft war on the weekend?

im proud to say that no, i dont know the answer to this question.

 

[Pitt79]

i tell you, you guys shut down schools, stores and mess with the social order of things, everyone is awkward around each other, the emotional and mature growth gets delayed and this is what happens.. high school kids playing with squirt guns..

these kids should be out in the woods drinking beer and bird-dogging each other and instead, they are playing with squirt guns..

Yup, this is what you get when the leadership preaches that THERE IS NO NORMAL, you get what we are getting now FREAK WORLD, by the way, you must address me with my preferred pronoun, which is "YINZ".

 

[HailToPitt1985]

im proud to say that no, i dont know the answer to this question.

I've never heard of it either. And I'm happy I haven't and better off for not knowing what it is.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

These types of things have been around forever. But the difference now is Tik Tok and You Tube and all of these kids film everything. Then it starts becoming one upmanship. Then it morphs into something more sinister.

 

[jivecat]

It's a fun game. The bigger issue is that you would shoot a person who was in your garage. Do you value your old paint cans that much?

 

[pittdan77]

im proud to say that no, i dont know the answer to this question.

You're fortunate. Just imagine a bunch of doughy looking guys whose pants are in danger of falling off from the extra weight of their equipment skulking around the woods shooting plastic BB's at each other and having arguments over whether someone is dead or not.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

You're fortunate. Just imagine a bunch of doughy looking guys whose pants are in danger of falling off from the extra weight of their equipment skulking around the woods shooting plastic BB's at each other and having arguments over whether someone is dead or not.

Well now you have me wanting to do this.

 

[OH Pete]

It's a fun game. The bigger issue is that you would shoot a person who was in your garage. Do you value your old paint cans that much?

That's my question. If someone is willing to start shooting in their garage without knowing what the threat was, it sounds to me like they are the problem. Not the kids.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

That's my question. If someone is willing to start shooting in their garage without knowing what the threat was, it sounds to me like they are the problem. Not the kids.

i agree, dont shoot them in your garage. be a responsible adult and drag the kid out back, then shoot him..

 

[mas1021]

This has been going on for years. We did it when I graduated in 2012.

 

[Pitt79]

i tell you, you guys shut down schools, stores and mess with the social order of things, everyone is awkward around each other, the emotional and mature growth gets delayed and this is what happens.. high school kids playing with squirt guns..

these kids should be out in the woods drinking beer and bird-dogging each other and instead, they are playing with squirt guns..

Maturity is getting later and later. In our day we were drinking beer in the woods at 17, our grandparents where already married with kids today 30-year-olds are living in their parent's basement playing XBOX

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

Maturity is getting later and later. In our day we were drinking beer in the woods at 17, our grandparents where already married with kids today 30-year-olds are living in their parent's basement playing XBOX

well i am in my 40s and i bought tiger woods 2023 and play it in my basement on the x box.. it's my house though..

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

well i am in my 40s and i bought tiger woods 2023 and play it in my basement on the x box.. it's my house though..

Do you wear those glasses that help you find the ball?

 

[Pitt79]

well i am in my 40s and i bought tiger woods 2023 and play it in my basement on the x box.. it's my house though..

That's cool, I didn't mean it that way, you bought the house too. Myself, I'm from the pre video game generation. Pong was new and then Pacman etc. at the arcade, but I was an adult before home video games were a thing.

 

[pittmaninwv]

At least piss in the squirt guns for heightened entertainment. Candy arses

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

Do you wear those glasses that help you find the ball?

dude, they sucked. i got scammed. i admit it, im a dummy

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

dude, they sucked. i got scammed. i admit it, im a dummy

Like I said before all of us idiot hackers get trapped into buying something stupid. I think it’s funny - I’ve bought a couple dumb things myself.

 

[Burgh15]

The game has been around for a long time. There will be businesses that ban the game being played on their property and every so many years, someone does something real dumb while playing, but it's really just a fun game. Though, I do find it amusing kids will wake up at 4 am and sit outside of someone's house in the cold and rain for two hours but can't wake up on time for school or work.

 

[USN_Panther]

dude, they sucked. i got scammed. i admit it, im a dummy

I have drank a few beers and bought stuff from dumb ads. Mostly good products though.
My wife was way ahead of her time. She bought me a Grill to Go portable grill from a late night infomercial back in the late 90s. I was the man that season in the parking lot. Now everyone has one.
I bought a Huusk knife from a popup ad. That is my favorite kitchen item.
I did buy a few My Pillows from a tv ad on ACC network. That was before I knew that guy was insane. They are good pillows. My wife likes them so I don't get to use them though.
My friend bought the "Fish Harvester". It's this remote control Contiki thing that runs a line out into the ocean with a bunch of hooks on it, then winches it back in. He wanted it to catch blue cod. But he just catches a few Kowhai with it. I told him I can do that with my spinning rod. He replied "Yeah, but you can't do that and have 10 beers while not leaving your beach chair." So yeah, good purchase.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

That said, this game has been around literally decades. Its part of the plot of Big Trouble released in 2002.

We played a version of it when I was in college, and that was almost 40 years ago.

 

[CJsE]

i tell you, you guys shut down schools, stores and mess with the social order of things, everyone is awkward around each other, the emotional and mature growth gets delayed and this is what happens.. high school kids playing with squirt guns..

these kids should be out in the woods drinking beer and bird-dogging each other and instead, they are playing with squirt guns..

I know it's crazy, but hear me out...Sometimes kids can do multiple things and don't feel like spending their Tuesday afternoons picking up the homeless guy by the beer distributor to buy them booze.

Also, we played similar a few times at Pitt 20 years ago where everyone pitched in $20 and the winner would walk away with a significant amount of money.

 

[Pitt_Boss]

Assassins is a very common game played at many high schools in the Pittsburgh area.

That doesn’t answer your question about appropriateness, but just letting you know it’s fairly typical. Personally, I don’t mind it, it’s fun for the kids.

 

[Bethlehemjohn]

I am the Head Coach of a local high school sports team. The name of the school and the sport are not relevant to my question, so I will not name them.
Any way, today I was working with one of my players and I asked him how his week went. Last week he told me that he entered into a "game" that was being played by quite a few upperclass students in his school. The game was called something along the lines of "Squirt Gun Assassination". Basically the game participants are paired into groups of two players and they are given the names of another group of two students that they are supposed to "assassinate" with a squirt gun. There are some basic rules that all must follow but they do allow people to wait outside peoples home, places of work, at the mall, etc... . They are not allowed to pursue their targets during school, at school related events of on school property. There are more rules, but I do not know all of them.
So when II asked him how his week went, he told me they got their "targets". Then he told me something that blew my mind. He told me almost got caught last weekend when he was getting ready to go work. His car was parked in the driveway and the families garage door was open. He said that is sister happened to be walking out the door in front of him and she jumped back and screamed. Believe it or not, two of the kids who were supposed to "assassinate" him and his friend were lying in wait inside his garage. Evidently, the rules allow the players to enter the garage area of their target if the door is open.
I asked the kid what happened. He laughed and said nothing, they left without accomplishing their goal. I asked him what his dad did who was in the house at the time. He laughed and said nothing. I told him if that was my home and those people were in my garage, there was a good chance that someone may have gotten hurt or shot.
Am I over reacting to this situation or would you guys have handled the situation like his dad?

Sounds kind of stupid and just another thing that they kids seem to play which focus on killing. There are so many games like this that really killing someone seems like a game to these kids.

 

[YourPittDanceTeam]

It's a fun game. The bigger issue is that you would shoot a person who was in your garage. Do you value your old paint cans that much?

Don't know about you, but my garage has a door that opens right into my home. So would I shoot some one who is trespassing on my property and is essentially inside my home, YES, I would.

 

[CJsE]

Sounds kind of stupid and just another thing that they kids seem to play which focus on killing. There are so many games like this that really killing someone seems like a game to these kids.

I still remember that day in 2006 when the Mattel corporation invented popguns so kids could play Cowboys and Racial Slurs...that was truly a dark day for the previously harmonious American civilization.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

GET OFF MY LAWN YOU GODDAM KIDS

 

[Pittpharm77]

Sounds kind of stupid and just another thing that they kids seem to play which focus on killing. There are so many games like this that really killing someone seems like a game to these kids.

This is going too far. If we haven't taught kids the difference of shooting someone with a spritz
of water vs. actually killing someone then we've raised a generation of
idiots. Pardon the harsh term but this smacks of banning old loony tunes cartoons
for "violence". The ones where tweety hit sylvester with a frying pan. Please hope
that we don't confuse harmless fun with actually hurting someone

 

[HailToPitt1985]

Don't know about you, but my garage has a door that opens right into my home. So would I shoot some one who is trespassing on my property and is essentially inside my home, YES, I would.

I also have a garage that is attached to my home and has an entry to my home. If I found some kid in my garage, no matter what he was holding or doing, he would be trespassing. I would find a way to restrain him or her and call the cops to take that person into custody. No questions asked. That person was breaking the law. If I owned a gun, I would take them at gunpoint and be legally justified to do so. Whether that kid was playing a game with fake guns is a separate matter and I don't care what they say they're doing.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

Sounds kind of stupid and just another thing that they kids seem to play which focus on killing. There are so many games like this that really killing someone seems like a game to these kids.

I agree. These kids play games on their iPads and watch TV shows that focus on killing and shooting people. This is just another really dumb thing they're doing. It can be dangerous and someday someone is going to actually get killed doing it.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

I still remember that day in 2006 when the Mattel corporation invented popguns so kids could play Cowboys and Racial Slurs...that was truly a dark day for the previously harmonious American civilization.

are you really this crazy or are you being sarcastic

 

[CJsE]

are you really this crazy or are you being sarcastic

I'm being extremely sarcastic. People acting like violent culture is something new in this country when basically every form of entertainment in this country for the past 100 years (can be argued far,far longer) has had a heavy focus on guns and violence.

The same people that would say stuff about kids not going outside and playing and waxing poetic about how peaceful and loving everyone was in their youth are some of the same that say teens need to grow up and they'd shoot them playing for trespassing on their property.

 

[Zeldas Open Roof]

I'm being extremely sarcastic. People acting like violent culture is something new in this country when basically every form of entertainment in this country for the past 100 years (can be argued far,far longer) has had a heavy focus on guns and violence.

The same people that would say stuff about kids not going outside and playing and waxing poetic about how peaceful and loving everyone was in their youth are some of the same that say teens need to grow up and they'd shoot them playing for trespassing on their property.

ok, sorry..

and yeah, this game seems harmless and for the people who will shoot teenagers who are in their garage, lets relax a bit now. put the gun down rambo and lets talk it out, dont shoot teenagers.. it's not cool..