At Staples , for instance, a rebel group of seniors is boycotting the game and plans a barbecue instead. For entertainment, there will be Capture the Flag. I've never had to deal with having a gun pulled on me. Dr. Robert Butterworth, a child psychologist in Los Angeles who studies trauma, said he was astonished to hear of the practice, given the current climate. Butterworth said such games could help desensitize students to violence.
Many kids scoff at that idea.
I don't want to sound un-whatever, but that's the way I feel. Some of the changes being made to the games appear to be token reactions, while others have been major. Like Westport's, the Conard game is not sanctioned by the school and is completely run by students. The rules for the games prohibit shootings on school grounds. Conard principal Chuck Landroche made a rare special announcement over the public-address system to encourage students to discontinue the game in light of Littleton, but to no avail.