Amid the chaos of Spoons, concerns about the game’s safety and recent student injuries have brought the game under intense scrutiny. As a tradition, Spoons has been a game that has withstood the test of time, gaining traction and remaining popular from year to year; eliminating the game or diluting its more fun elements would remove the entertainment value of Spoons. To ensure that the game can be played for years to come while keeping it safe, class advisors should be more closely involved in making Spoons safe by having moderators check in with them frequently about how the game is being run and by representing the administration when approving or rejecting certain ideas.

Spoons is one of the most anticipated aspects of senior year and a highly valued Lynbrook tradition. Over the course of the past few years, excitement for Spoons has grown not only among seniors, but has spread to the whole school, including underclassmen.

“I think [Spoons] is one of the most important things as a senior,” said senior Amber Masse, this year’s Spoons winner. “Everyone looks forward to it, and definitely for me I was never really into spirit until I started Spoons, and the event solidified Lynbrook as my home. It meant the world to me that all of us could come together. I think that it’s probably one of the most valuable experiences of high school, and I will never forget the moments.”

Concerns regarding the safety of Spoons, especially during immunities and final challenges, are understandable; however, imposing too many regulations is not the best solution as it compromises the game itself and makes it significantly less entertaining for students. One way to achieve a balance between safety and entertainment is to get all plans for future immunities and challenges approved by class advisers. These advisers, essentially the link between the class and the administration, will then have the opportunity to suggest any necessary changes. It is also more feasible for class officers to get approval from class advisers, as they are more easily accessible to students than many administrators. Enforcing this solution will ensure that administration has a say in all Spoons-related events.

“I think [getting class adviser approval] is very doable, and it’s okay to get immunities checked with our class advisers before we do them, because ideally you want to have pretty much the entire Spoons script written out before the game starts,” said junior Stephanie Li, current 2018 class treasurer and vice president-elect.

Another possible way to reduce the number of injuries caused by Spoons is to eliminate the physical aspect of the final challenges. Events that could lead to shoving, pushing or other dangerous actions would be modified or removed altogether.

“Most of this year’s injuries during Spoons came from the challenges that we did toward the end, where finalists had to do physical challenges to get a special spoon,” said senior class president and Spoons moderator David Lee. “I think three or four injuries were because of that, so you could scrap that to be safer next year.”

It is important to recognize that part of the responsibility falls to the players of Spoons. To help keep the game safe and to support the efforts of class advisers, the class itself should also adhere more closely to the current restrictions of Spoons; for example, the week before the finale was marred by the number of injuries due to the highly-competitive nature of the challenges.

“The moderators, advisers and administrators can and have put safety measures in place, but it is up to the participants to follow through,” said Jason Lee, class adviser of 2017.

In considering the safety of Spoons, one must also take into account that there are other events on campus that might result in similarly dangerous situations to those of Spoons. Student-run sports events, two of which include Spikefest and March Madness, place students in potentially dangerous situations; in addition, the frenzy resulting from making lockers available to everyone at once during the beginning of the school year is not a sport but has a similar rush to that of Spoons, yet these events generally proceed on the principle that students are trusted to be careful enough not to get hurt.

“I understand that the goal is to protect our students, but injuries happen,” said David Lee. “It’s like a sport. Do we [impose regulations on] sports because people get injured during sports?”

Although this iteration of Spoons ended with a sour note, the injuries of Spoons should not mask the enjoyment the Senior class gets from playing the game. Likewise, improving administrative decision-making in the Spoons creation process will best ensure that seniors will still have fun while remaining safe.

*the Epic staff voted 28-0 in favor of this stance.