SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA)- A new TikTok craze that’s taking over social media —called ‘The Bathroom Challenge’— has made its way into South Carolina schools and it’s causing a lot of damage.
The trend has influenced students to record themselves vandalizing and destroying school bathrooms and stealing school property.
The latest incident of vandalism related to the trend happened at Dawkins Middle school in Spartanburg School District 6 on Wednesday.
Justin Funderburk, principal at Dawkins Middle School, said school administrators were alerted that the soap dispensers in a 7th grade boys bathroom were ripped off the wall and thrown into the toilet or stolen.
“We never expect anything like this out of students here. We tell them everyday they go to the best middle school around and we expect the best from them,” Funderburk said.
There’s a slew of videos circulating online of similar or worse damage happening at schools all across the country. TikTok said they’re working to remove the videos from their platform.
In the meantime, Funderburk said vandalism of any kind will not be tolerated at Dawkins Middle School.
Since the incident, the school has repaired the damage and replaced the soap dispensers but there will be consequences for those involved. Students could be suspended and parents could be forced to pay for damages.
“Each one has been a case by case basis but students who are associated with all the damages that have been done they are going to be facing consequences. Out of school suspension, restitution where they will have to pay for the damages done and potential law enforcement involvement as well,” Funderburk said.
Principal Funderburk urges parents to talk with their children about the dangers of social media and how trends such as the ‘Bathroom Challenge’ could lead them down the wrong path.
“We just want parents to talk with students about the dangers of social media and just make sure that we’re building our kids up and teaching them the right way to use their phones and social media to avoid anything like this having a negative impact on their time in middle school.”
School administrators said they’re still investigating this incident and searching for the students responsible for the damage.