The Beginning –

The start of September brought a new trend of vandalism to America. American teens began partaking in a new fad trending on the infamous app TikTok. At the start of September, a group of teens began to vandalize their school taking things such as soap dispensers, computers and classroom telephones. While in the process of stealing, students would record their acts and upload them to TikTok using the hashtag “devious licks.” What does “devious licks” mean? Well licks refers to stealing something and getting away with it then adding devious perpetuates a sense of mischievousness and/or practical jokes. So, devious licks means mischievous vandalism. Soon after, these actions swept the nation when teens began to compete on the app to see who could steal the biggest or best items. Nationwide, these practical jokes resulted in demolished bathrooms, and missing c.o.w.s (computers on wheels) and Promethean boards. At one school, a student took a teacher’s television in the middle of class then bolted out the room, into the hallway and out the school doors. This student was eventually caught. 

“Devious Licks” Hits Randall- 

When this atrocious trend reached Randall it started in the restroom near the theater room where stall doors, urinals and soap dispensers were damaged, destroyed or stolen. After this event, a spree of vandalism brought about missing soap dispensers, leaving many restrooms with no soap. The boys’ restrooms were left with one soap dispenser throughout the entire west side and luckily a secluded restroom in the east side of the school was left unharmed. The girls’ restrooms saw their fair share of vandalism too, with many losing their soap dispensers as well. 

The Resolution – 

Just as quickly as the trend began, it also seemed to vanish because many schools started to crack down on vandalism. Schools quickly issued statements saying they would not stand for these TikTok inspired “practical jokes,” and began catching vandals through school cameras and the app itself. Despite that, nationwide, many schools were left in hundreds and even thousands of dollars in damages. At Randall, we were lucky to have only had minimal damage. As of last week, school officials took to the announcements and stated that any students caught participating in the trend would be punished both by the school and possibly the law. Crime Stoppers then offered reward money to students who could provide tips or information leading to the vandals on campus. Lastly, TikTok took authority over the trend and deleted all videos and/or hashtags involving the devious licks trend. Luckily, it seems as though the trend has finally slowed down and almost stopped. At Randall, we are now seeing repairs taking place for the damages. 

My Opinion – 

Personally, I am not surprised by the steadfast ignorance of the school vandalism caused by my generation. In personal experience, I have witnessed how my generation was introduced as the people who eat Tide Pods for “funsies,” but I have also seen my generation gladly and willingly help with political movements, global climate change, stomp out patriarchy and break corrupt racial standards. My generation has both a smart side and a less informed side, and while I think most of my generation has good intentions, I would say that we sometimes get sidetracked and let our brain cells run loose. Forgetting normalcy can be both good and bad in a way, but this moment in history just highlights how sometimes this generation acts uneducated and sadly needs a little more growth.