TikTok Trend: Devious Licks

Recently a trend has been going around TikTok, a popular social platform, and has started to affect our very own school, Blackfoot High School (BHS). This trend is called Devious Licks, and the point of this trend is to steal something from a public place. Our bathrooms at BHS have been the primary target of the students participating in this trend. The boys’ bathrooms have all been locked due to the amount of theft occurring in them; the boys now have to use three porta-potties located outside of the school. The girls bathrooms have not yet been closed but if the trend is to start in their bathrooms, they will be. Joe Abercrombie says this about the locked bathrooms, “We are not making them go outside simply because we are vindictive, but we simply don’t have hygienic bathrooms for our students right now”. 

Stealing from the bathrooms is not only theft but also vandalism, and vandalism is a criminal offense. Students participating in the trend could be facing misdemeanor offenses and be stuck with a criminal record. Students seem to be competing with each other in what they are stealing to see who can steal the best thing. 

Things that are unfortunately being stolen from bathrooms because of this trend, include: soap dispensers, paper towel dispensers, and even toilets and sinks. At BHS people are stealing faucets, faucet handles, soap dispensers, soap from the dispensers, toilet paper, handles, etc. I personally don’t know what people want with these things or what they do with them after they use them. If they are just simply throwing them in the trash, then what is the point of stealing it if you are just going to waste it? 

What is the reason that students are participating in this trend? The most likely cause is because of the likes and views that the student will get on social media after they successfully commit a Devious Lick. The word “trend” in social media means, “what’s hip or popular at a certain point in time”. Everybody, but especially teenagers, love this term “popular”. Growing up with social media has taught them that they need to be popular to be liked, so they participate in these trends to get likes and views which they believe gives them this popularity. Joe Abercrombie says that he wishes the students would come to him and say, “My bad, I thought it was a joke, and it got out of hand”.

There are several TikTok trends that are dangerous to those who participate in it, and many people have died due to participating in certain ones, such as the Blackout challenge. The idea of the Blackout challenge is to block your airways, by yourself or with the help of a friend, until you pass out, and as soon as you pass out your airways are released so that you can breathe again. Not everybody knows that you are supposed to let go after the participant has passed out and they end up either in the hospital or dead. The Devious Licks challenge is ending up with teenagers gaining a criminal record.

This TikTok trend, Devious Licks, not only risks those who are participating in it with a criminal record, but also costs the school hundreds of dollars. Not only does the school have to replace the items stolen, but parents also have to pay for the legalities involved with those who participate in this trend.

To combat this trend, TikTok is removing any videos tagged with the hashtag “DeviousLicks” or any other spelling variations of it. TikTok is also removing any video that seems to look like the creator is participating in the trend. A TikTok spokesperson stated, “We expect our community to stay safe and create responsibly, and we do not allow content that promotes or enables criminal activities”.