This article was written by Ashna Uprety of Richard Montgomery High School
When you think of the app TikTok, things like people sharing dance videos and teens having harmless fun most likely come to mind. But how exactly does stealing objects like soap dispensers and bathroom stall doors from schools become a trend? The “Devious Licks” TikTok trend began in early September, right at the start of the school year. For many students, this was the first time returning to in-person learning since the pandemic began.
Initially, the trend started out small, with high school TikTok users posting videos of themselves pulling out stolen items from their backpacks, like boxes of masks and hand sanitizer bottles. Then, the trend spread like wildfire, and the “Licks” became more and more ludicrous. Microscopes, printers, and even sinks were among some of these “Devious Licks”: it was a competition to see who could steal the most impressive item.
This trend is not just a harmless joke, regardless of what the perpetrators’ intentions are. “A prank is a prank. When you’re lighting toilets on fire or when you’re vandalizing public property, I think those are serious infractions,” Richard Montgomery High School U.S. history teacher Peter Beach said. “ It puts people in danger [and] it costs a lot of money to fix.”
The frustration and anxiety so many students have felt during the pandemic, as well as peer pressure, factored in the creation and the spreading of the trend. This might have been a sort of outlet for some students, a way to deal with the transition to in-person learning and the hardships that come with it.
“There is something going on in the world that is causing so much uncertainty, that's manifesting in behavior that’s typically not what we want to see in a school,” Richard Montgomery English teacher Eleanor Simpson said.
Adjusting to this new sense of normalcy has been difficult for everyone. Though, stealing items that contribute to the cleanliness of schools during such unprecedented times for public health is certainly not beneficial. Even though it started off fairly small, it escalated, as most things on the internet tend to do.
In efforts to discourage students from partaking in the trend, MCPS released a statement condemning student participation. The statement said that “the safety of our school communities is a priority, and these types of behaviors are harmful, dangerous, disrespectful and threaten the safe environment of our schools. They will not be tolerated.” MCPS stated that the trend created an unsafe learning environment and that students would be disciplined according to the Student Code of Conduct.
Social media has proven to be a useful tool to stay connected with others, especially in isolated times like the pandemic. The downside is that harmful and destructive trends like TikTok’s “Devious Licks” can emerge. “School has to be safe. If people don’t feel safe, they don’t want to learn,” Simpson said. Staff and students alike share a disapproval for the trend. Vandalism does not contribute to a positive learning environment and only increases the stress of both staff and students.
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