BY EMILY MORENO
TikTok is a social media platform that is home to many trends, ranging from transition videos to dance videos, but the latest trend has created problems at school. The “devious lick” challenge encourages students to steal an item from their school and post it on TikTok.
This trend has caused damage all over the country with large news outlets covering the aftermath. Schools within the Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) district have seen their students participate in this trend, and on September 22, BCPS released a video of interim superintendent Dr. Vickie L. Cartwright addressing the trend.
“Over the past few days, our district has seen evidence of severe vandalism in our bathrooms caused by our own students,” Cartwright said. “Multiple schools have had soap dispensers and exit signs ripped off the walls, urinals removed and ceiling tiles damaged.”
Here at CCHS, the “devious lick” trend caused damage to a second-floor bathroom which led to the flooding of the 3900 building. The boys bathroom was damaged with a sink and urinal being removed from the wall. To understand the situation there must be an understanding of the effect of social media on teenagers.
“Adolescents with greater reputations of digital status seeking reported more frequent social media use, desire for popularity, belief in the importance of online status indicators and use of strategies to obtain these indicators,” the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology reported.
Social media influences teenagers’ lives, and it is worth noting how teens are affected by social media usage. However, blame is not being placed on social media but the students who participated are being held accountable.
“[Social Media] is one of those things where you have the positive and then you have the potential for things to not be so positive,” English teacher and AICE coordinator Lisa Jones said. “I think it’s what you make of it really.”
The “devious lick” trend caused extensive damage to schools all over the country but the damage got creators attention. The video credited to have started the trend got over 2.7 million views in only two days. The participation in the trend has resulted in disciplinary action and, if severe enough, police involvement.
Students participating create a burden for themselves, their guardians, the school and their peers. The student caused expensive damage that their guardian will have to pay for, disciplinary action that could seriously affect their future and another concern for the school.
“Instead of worrying about people coming in like jumping the fence or something like that we have to now worry about kids in the bathroom tearing it apart,” Student Resource Officer Kevin Coleman said. “Just don’t do it, it’s not worth it.”
After the incident, staff and students have focused on creating a positive environment. Here at CCHS, administration has chosen to start a good deed Friday where students get highlighted for doing something positive, no matter how big or small.
Additionally, TikTok has taken down videos with the hashtag of ‘devious lick’ and the TikTok community created the “angelic yield” trend. This new trend consists of students returning stolen items or doing something beneficial for the school.
“I know that like I said we had that incident but I think I don’t want that to overshadow the big picture of all the wonderful things that are happening on this campus,” Principal Vera Perkovic said.
Photos courtesy of USA Today
