Is Vandalism a Problem in Your School?

Do students at your school damage the bathrooms or other spaces on campus? Do they steal school property? If so, what does your school do about it?

Are you aware of the recent TikTok trend that encourages school vandalism and theft? In “TikTok’s Latest Craze: Stealing Stuff From School,” Giulia Heyward writes about how schools are trying to deal with it. The article begins:

Teenagers are acting out — and their high schools are the victims.

It’s all on TikTok. Missing are soap dispensers, bathroom mirrors, paper towel holders, fire alarms and even a teacher’s desk — anything that can be swiped from school and then revealed in a TikTok video, with the hashtag #deviouslicks.

In the last month or so, TikTok has hosted close to 94,200 similar videos under #deviouslicks, or #diabolicallicks, according to the website Know Your Meme. The hashtag also seems to have encouraged more serious vandalism, with students taking ceiling tiles, hand-railings, toilets and bathroom stalls.

“Zoinks dude. Sometimes licks are a little too devious,” one commenter wrote about a video in which the poster walked toward school, with a key, hashtag “diabolical.”

The article also includes the perspective of some school leaders, as well as TikTok’s response:

To school administrators, the thefts are not what they want to deal with now, just weeks into the new school year, with the virus and learning loss and other pressures bearing down. And to some social watchers, the trend is a sign, perhaps, of what teenagers are feeling, about the disruptions and powerlessness in their lives.

Schools from California to Michigan to Georgia are cracking down. There have been suspensions, criminal charges and restitution orders. There are bans on bathroom breaks. And there have been warnings.

TikTok is also trying to stop the trend by deleting the content and redirecting hashtags and search results to its Community Guidelines page, according to a spokesperson. But as of Thursday, tens of thousands of videos can still be found under adaptations of the original hashtag.

It also attempts to explain why students might gravitate to such pranks, especially now:

For Amanda Brennan, the senior director of trends for the digital marketing agency XX Artists, the answer might be the pandemic. After more than a year of shutdowns and virtual schooling, students, who are now returning to schools for the first time, may just be looking for a way to rebel.

“It makes sense to see kids stealing things because it feels like a power play,” Ms. Brennan said. “You feel powerful over these systems that you may not have felt as if you had a lot of control over.”

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

• Have you heard of this trend? Is it happening in your school? Have you watched #deviouslicks and #diabolicallicks videos? If so, what is your opinion of them?

• Have vandalism and theft been a problem in your school even before this trend? If so, what has been done about it?

• Why do you think people who share videos of themselves doing things that could get them in trouble are willing to take that risk?

• The article suggests factors besides the prospect of becoming TikTok famous that explain why students would commit vandalism at school. What do you think about them? Are they valid, in your opinion?

• What is TikTok’s responsibility here? What about other social media platforms? If they crack down on user-generated content that shows acts of vandalism or stealing, should they also ban other things? If so, what? And who gets to decide?

• Another meme, #angelicyields, shows students attempting to undo the destruction of others or otherwise doing something nice, like putting hand soap back in a dispenser in a school bathroom or installing a coffee maker in what looks to be a teachers’ bathroom. What is your opinion of these videos? Are they entertaining? Do you think this meme could take off as well? Why or why not?

• If you were a school principal at a school that had increasing incidents of student vandalism, how would you handle it? Would you use any of the tactics mentioned in the article? Why or why not?

Learn more about Student Opinion here and find all of our questions in this column. Teachers, see how you can incorporate this feature into your classroom routine here.

Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.