It’s the object of every senior’s desires on their last day of school. They scour the sides of Loyola and Dogwood Lanes looking, for those special underclassmen to target. The senior parade is an event of grand aquatic proportions – so you better watch out.

Here are some tips and tricks to keep yourself out of the line of action:

Get an ancient Roman shield. Although not able to cover your entire frame, the “scutum” measures 2.5 feet wide to 4.5 feet tall, effectively protecting you from water balloons and other projectiles.

Up next, we have Violet Incredible from The Incredibles. Although this is a bit of stretch, she has powers of invisibility and force fields. Both of these are fantastic when it comes to evading those lethal head shots. See them aiming at you? Boom. Invisible, with an extra bit of force-field protection.

Nothing says defending yourself like returning the water balloon to its sender. No normal bat will do though; if the bat is too strong, it will cause the water balloon to pop on impact. A foam bat is a better option, as it’s soft, but still has a killer swing.

If you’re feeling unproductive and lazy, you can turn on a giant fan and let all the projectiles fly back at them. It is unlikely to hit the thrower and will probably hit the people on the other side of the sidewalk, but those are necessary casualties in war.