LOCAL NEWS — Not everything you see on social media is a good idea.
Several weeks ago, a national Tik Tok challenge called “Devious Licks” dared students across the country to destroy or steal school property and then post their video on the popular social media app. It’s led to students across the country ripping bathroom soap dispensers off walls, breaking urinals, using paper towels to clog toilets, and other vandalism.
It’s happening here in Tennessee. Williamson County, Knox County, and even Moore County schools have seen incidents. According to MCHS Student Resource Officer Justin Grogan, he’s investigated two different incidences of stolen bathroom soap /soap dispensers in the past week.
“We had one taken from the annex and a second taken from the new gym,” SRO Grogan says. “So far, we haven’t filed criminal charge because the items were returned and could be put back easily. If we get damages that require tax payer monies to repair, then school discipline could escalate to criminal charges.”
SRO Grogan added that vandalism warrants can be issued and a court could order students to pay restitution in additional to fines. MCHS Principal Brad Sanders says that the couple of cases that have happened at MCHS were more mischievous than destructive.
“They’ve been mild compared to what I’ve seen happening in the rest of the state. They didn’t really damage anything and they seem to have kind of realized it wasn’t a great idea immediately after,” he says. “Everything they did could be easily fixed. Our kids are good kids. They take a lot of personal responsibility.”
Moore County School officials encourage parents to talk to their children about the potential consequences of destroying school property. Tik Tok has removed any video labeled “devious licks” from the platform. •
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