Throughout the month of May, a large group of seniors from Peninsula High School participated in what is largely known as Nerf Wars. This particular event has taken place every year for the last few years and the winning team claims a certain money prize. The event is basically a team of 4-6 take place in a war with nerf guns and if you are hit you are either stunned or killed per say and the team with the most kills and stuns comes out with the money. While all of that is important, we interviewed a few contestants and notable adults from the community to ask them the actual significance of Nerf Wars on the school and more importantly on the community.

The Peninsula Nerf Wars effects the school in many different ways. For one, the increase in first-period tardies and absences drastically increased during the competition Students at the school are more worried about not losing Nerf Wars, rather than learning. Mrs. O’Leary, a teacher at Peninsula High, has noticed a change in the way students act during the Nerf Wars. O’Leary has witnessed the change, and she states, “I have seen that there are a large number of first period tardies and absences.” With that, Peninsula seniors are not receiving the required amount of sleep to operate during a regular day at school when they are there. Zachary Taylor, a senior at Peninsula High School, felt the consequences of the Nerf Wars. “It kept me up at night. It got so bad, I had to sleep in my car so no one could shoot me while I walked to my car in the morning” according to Taylor. All in all, senior students at Peninsula High School are not in a learning state and are not able to function at a normal level during the school day and have been having a tough time finishing the school year well with the addition of Nerf Wars.

Along with affecting the school, Nerf Wars has a significant effect on the community and how certain businesses run during these competition time when you are able to attack an opposing team. Some businesses ban Nerf Wars indefinitely and if you are in their certain establishment with a Nerf gun you will be kindly asked to leave. Mrs O’Leary explains the banning as so, “I think a lot of their employees working at the stores feel as if Nerf Wars is a danger to employees and to customers and so it’s impacting them as a whole to do their job. They also want to make sure that their establishment is a safe zone for the people that they need to actually do the job to make the businesses, you know work.” It goes without saying that Nerf Wars has been a tough topic for certain businesses around the area but overall most businesses have done a solid job of keeping cool and putting clear restrictions on certain Nerf activities.

Overall, Nerf Wars has a significant effect on both how our school operates and how our local businesses run. You can almost feel the difference in the community and around the school when it’s competition time. Although there are many cons along with dangers involved with Nerf Wars there are also many pros which make Nerf Wars an overall positive and friendly influence on the community and with the students involved.