Nerf guns are a popular toy among all ages, mostly because of their versatility and the fun they can provide no matter how old you are. Nerf guns are plastic guns that shoot foam “nerf bullets” using a spring mechanism to lightly project the bullets at a target, made for even small toddlers to use and walk away without injury. “They are toys, If you came to my house there would probably be about 4 different nerf guns, any toy used responsibly isn’t a problem. But I also don’t bring my toys to school or my work.” Said Co-Principal Mr. Craig Johnson.

Are these nerf guns really as safe as they seem? In the past decade or two there has been a huge rise in gun violence and therefore administration, staff, and the police forces have been cracking down on security in our schools in the U.S. in order to look out what is best for our students. When it comes to violence and guns, all schools have a zero tolerance policy which could explain why something that might even resemble a gun could lead many into deep trouble. “If we asked the insurance company for this school about nerf guns they would say absolutely not, same for anything that shoots projectiles, there are safety issues involved.” Said Johnson.

“We have a lot of kids that just don’t yet understand,” Edina School Resource Officer Morgan Piper said. “They’re not mature enough yet to understand the consequences of their actions.” The consequences can be disastrous. In Waconia last year, six students were involved in a crash during a Nerf Wars outing. In 2016, Armstong High School students hit a car and hurt innocent bystanders, and in 2015, two Lakeville South students died in a car accident during nerf wars.” Another potential danger of nerf guns is they can be taken as serious as real guns and could get students into trouble with law enforcement or other authorities and lead to their nerf gun being mistaken for a weapon, and could cause harm to property indirectly. “Anytime people are attempting something of a controversial nature, be more proactive, guide choices so they are still fun but are more inside district policy and guidelines.” Said Co-Principal Gail Danner.

But how does this apply to our school? Recently word spread around like wildfire that the seniors were hosting nerf wars off campus. “Kids were causing disruptions with nerf wars at Jenne-Wright in the parking lot. This happened on multiple days, people who worked in the district office were worried about their cars.” Said Johnson.

Graduation is coming up, and prom, although it has already passed, the nerf wars were taking place before that time, and seniors participating in this could have risked consequences. These consequences may have included punishments like potentially being expelled from prom or held back on graduation if matters had gotten too serious.

In the past there have been objects like water balloons, “nerf guns or water balloons isn’t something we could approve even if we wanted to because of our insurance company.” said Johnson, or medieval armor “There has been occasions in plays where teachers will bring in medieval armor, things like those are allowed with special permission.” Said Danner.

The nerf wars could have possibly been a great disaster for our school but of course the administration saw the danger approaching ahead and quickly seized control of the situation making an announcement that there would be no nerf guns on campus. “We asked the kids to make good decisions in relation to behavior on campus and what they bring on campus.” Said Johnson.

In conclusion, students should think about their decisions and the possible impact it could have on the people and this community “Gun violence can arise negative feelings out of students. We always want to help students make good choices so it doesn’t have an effect on the general population.” Said Danner. The point they make is clear though, they would still like us to have fun, just make safer decisions: “Have a great summer!” Said Johnson.