Only if the SuperSoaker is sold in a bundle with ability to run and a group of friends to conspire with.
There oughtta be a three day waiting period for those Supersoakers.
Sadly, Super Soakers just don’t seem as cool any more. My girlfriend and I went shopping for some so we could have a water fight and they just don’t look as fun. They probably work better, but the look was part of the thing. We got off brand one that look great and work fine. Looking on Amazon there seem to be some that are better than what the store had, but I miss my original. But this isn’t really on topic so I’ll end my hijack now.
Then it’s fun and games and eyeballs.
Middle school teacher here.
Absofuckinglutely right.
I can see the fun in it, but the thought of 1000 boys with water guns from 8 to 3 has just made me soil myself and vomit incontrollably.
It’s one of those things that cannot end well. It can only exacerbate problems and a perfect time for bullying under the we’re-palying-like-you-said excuse.
And no. It’s not about the fear loosening the iron grip crushing kids’ soul. I know that phrase make one sound cool, but it ain’t rue at least for me.
I’d rather help in cleaning up the Fukushima nuclear plant while naked.
My first thought was “but they have to look like water guns and be loaded ONLY with water” - the first has been adressed by the principal, the second will hopefully be handled speedily and without any major consequences (a good method is to make “reload points” available) and I like that the principal also included in the rules “no shooting at unarmed people” - those who don’t want to play can opt out.
My preK-8th school has built-in bleachers on one side of the main yard, so if you don’t want to or can’t take part in whatever big game is going on, you can sit there and cheer (or sit there and play more pacific games). And yes, it’s respected: anybody who tries to bully someone sitting out to join in gets piled-on by the rest of the kids, no teacher intervention needed (anybody over the age of 3 knows that he’s got off-days too and that different people like different games).
I’m really surprised at the level of violence and bullying that people expect from school children - filling water guns with urine or bleach? Using water guns to bully other kids more than usual? That sounds to me like you have a problem in general with bullying and aggression and need to deal with it all the time, not that water guns are bad.
For the record, I voted “No problem” because in my High School - 5th grade and 6th grade, when yes, there was bullying going on - in the last week or so of July, when the weather was hot anyway, several children did bring water guns to school (no super soakers though, we didn’t have those. And I brought a big water bottle for better refilling!) It was fun during the breaks to squirt each other, and because it was hot, it was pleasant to be a bit wet.
The water guns didn’t cause or enable any more bullying than normal days.
I voted ‘other’ because, while I’d imagine there would not have been any problem if we had such a policy in my school days, with a whole school running wild there’d be some minor damage to fittings and equipment.
What would have been a somewhat better approach might be what I witnessed last summer, on the last day of school, when I rode my bike past a local Gymnasium: a water-gun free-for-all on the street in front of the school, supervised by and participated in by teachers and older students who made sure noncombatants (i.e. passers by) could pass through unsoaked. That way fun was had but the actual classrooms stayed dry and students who did not want to participate, did not.
It looked much more fun than what happened on the last day before summer break in my school days - in the am letzten Tag wird vorgelesen tradion teachers read from their favourite books.
As long as they didn’t mess up my hair. 
Seriously? That would have been the best day EVER! 
Obviously you’d have to ban them in the computer labs and the art room*, but that would still be pretty damned cool.
*Don’t laugh. You don’t want people shooting water at the kiln. Or fucking up someone’s painting.
I usually think this board trends way too far regarding the possibility of bullying, but as a former teacher (middle school/elementary) this strikes me as a terrible idea. First, collateral damage. How many books, school equipment, etc. are going to be damaged as a result of poorly aimed shots or kids trying to dodge squirts? It seems incredibly wasteful. Second, the possibility of a serious accident caused by slipping, getting shot in the face… just wait until a parent learns that this was a school-sanctioned event.
Kids are notoriously poor at judging when enough is enough, especially with peers egging them on. And you can rest assured that at least one unarmed adult will be “accidentally” shot. Last chance to get back at the teacher that made your life hell.
I’d also be concerned about bus safety. Someone will take it to the buses and that can put a whole lot of lives in danger.
Last, who’s going to clean up the mess? Underpaid and overworked custodial staff, no doubt. Nice message to send to the students: make a mess and someone else will clean it up for you.
I can understand suspending discipline for shooters (go to office, tell them to knock it off, and go back to class). Or even allowing shooting on the sports field afterschool for those who opt to play (with appropriate eye protection). But as an educator I look at the upside (kids have a fun day, which can be accomplished a number of ways) and the downside (way too many things can go wrong). It’s an easy decision.
FTR, I graduated from a rough urban school where the last day of school usually involved gang fights, jumpings, and vandalism. Cops were out in force as one of the biggest things was to drive to rival schools and start beating the shit out of other kids. Teenagers tend not to completely think through the consequences of their actions, so why exacerbate the usual end of year problems by sanctioning an activity that is going to no doubt result in damaged property, egos, and possibly people?
Awesome. Very true, and I’m writing this down and keeping it for when I forget.
This. Everyone who’s eager to talk about how uptight things are these days is looking at this situation through rose colored glasses, or is projecting media-hyped outrage of over-protective modern parents onto the issue.
The cost benefit analysis is clearly in favor of not doing this, and finding a different way to celebrate the end of the year. And, while it may not matter to you that 3% of the student body find this to be a day where they are even more easily targeted and harassed by 3% of their classmates (numbers made up), and it’s sanctioned by their guardians, it is more than enough reason to not follow through with this plan. As tumbleddown said, you’d better believe that any kid who already feels uncomfortable at school is going to want to stay the hell away. That’s no policy for a school to enact. Have a bbq, with optional sports/games, and music.
Squirt guns are only fun if you want to play the game. Otherwise, they’re rude and obnoxious.
They should fill the water guns with vodka, liquid LSD and piss.
I find it amusing that the teachers in the thread are all against this. I am a teacher and I too think this is a terrible idea. Just imagining my students with water guns in class makes me shudder. I never plan to get anything done on the last day anyway but there are plenty of other ways of having fun.
um, were you never a child or something? Kids are vicious little pricks towards each other.
I can’t imagine they ran this idea past the school’s legal counsel. The second a teacher or student slips and falls, and either puts in a claim or sues the school, this event will be OVER. Really terrible idea unless they are getting the participants to sign legal releases. My school would never have done something like this unless it was outside, completely opt-in, and the right to sue was signed away by their parents.
I’m saying this from an insurance liability perspective, because that’s my profession. And this idea is in-freaking-sane.
Yes, I was a child, and was picked on. However, if that amount of vicousness and bullying as you describe is normal, then adults and teachers need to do something year round to stop it. Maybe a problem is that part of your population still glorifies violence, and therefore bullying makes “men out of boys” (as the English believed in the old boarding school institutionalized bullying in previous decades). That belief is mostly gone here.
I was one of those students who got picked on. At the school I went to for 10th-12th grade, though, this wouldn’t have been a problem: They really did keep the students well-behaved. And at the school I was at for 9th grade, where the administration turned a blind eye towards bullying, I still would have thought it a good idea, since it’d mean a day where I’d just be getting wet instead of getting punched or pantsed. Heck, at that school, if someone wanted to soak another student, they’d just do it anyway, and at least this way I’d be able to shoot back.
Dumb idea. There is no way that there will not be overspray. Are all the books, computers, and other stuff going to be completely safely locked away? Kids not squirting unarmed people? Yeah, right. As a teacher, one of the things I really hate is a principal who wants to play “big buddy” to the kids. It never ends well.