School administrators are warning parents and students about a social media trend that has led to theft and vandalism at schools across America.In the last month, the video-sharing platform TikTok has seen more than 90,000 videos be posted with the hashtag “deviouslick” or “diabolicallick.” “Lick” is a new slang term for theft.
In the videos, students are seen stealing items like soap dispensers, bathroom mirrors, paper towel holders and fire alarms. More serious vandalism has also been associated with the videos, with students taking ceiling tiles, handrails and bathroom stalls.
Dr. Jake Long, superintendent for Mountain Home Public Schools, says a letter warning parents about the social media craze was sent out to parents and guardians of high school and junior high students on Friday. He says the district has had “a few things” pop up in relation to the TikTok trend, but those incidents have been addressed.
The Mountain Home School District’s letter notes that the high school has tightened up bathroom break procedures due to various vandalism efforts in the restrooms.
The letter states in part, “It is our hope that after our parents have discussions with their children over the weekend, we will be able to move forward with our normal restroom break procedures soon.”
The letter cautions that if vandalism in the junior high bathrooms continues, then the district will also be forced to tighten restroom break procedures there as well.
Norfork Public Schools released its own letter Monday warning about possible vandalism and thefts in connection with the viral sensation. Superintendent Chip Layne says his district has not seem any vandalism, but administrators are trying to be proactive in confronting the issue.
Layne said he hopes his district does not have any damage associated with the social media trend, but wanted to spread the word about it to parents. He said some students might view the TikTok trend as a harmless social media challenge with no repercussions, when in fact serious damage could be involved.
Cotter Public Schools Superintendent Vanessa Thomas-Jones said there had recently been a case of minor vandalism in the baseball field dugout, but otherwise the distract had remained relatively free of the social media fad. She says the district has not sent home a letter to parents, but she has shared information about the TikTok sensation on her Facebook page.
Schools are urging parents to talk to their teens about the possible criminal charges they could face for participating in the #deviouslick craze. In addition to monetary restitution for repairing any damage, the more serious acts of vandalism could lead to felony charges for participants.
TikTok is trying to halt the fad by deleting content tagged with “deviouslick” or “diabolicallick” and redirecting hashtags and search results to its Community Guidelines page. Still, thousands of videos can be found by searching for adaptations of the original hashtag.
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