Amy Love

Opinion Editor 

aml7458@psu.edu

A new challenge has been trending on Tiktok and it is called “devious licks.” In this challenge, a student steals or damages property at school, and then posts it on social media anonymously. The trend quickly gained popularity and had multiple people trying to outdo each other. 

So far, the most outlandish one I have come across on TikTok is a high school student claiming that they stole the principal’s car door. I have not found one that tops that one yet since most are from properties that are found in the bathroom. The “licks” people are taking are parts of the toilet, the stall door, etc. It is the most random object that can be found. 

Faculty of schools are catching on though, and it seems like the most popular way for the school to deal with this is to shut down the bathrooms. 

It is the most infuriating inconvenience when schools decide to deal with an issue is to shut down the bathrooms for the entire school. This is not a brand-new idea, it is something schools have done for years to deal with problems in the bathroom, such as vaping. 

It is always just a few kids who cause these disruptions and rather than seeking out those kids, the entire student body is punished. 

The ideal way to deal with these problems should not have to be taking away a necessity needed for students during the day. Usually, when schools decide to do this, they shut down all but one bathroom. It seems to be a perfect way to deal with it, while leaving access for students to use, but it is not. 

When this happens, a student asks to go to the bathroom during class, they spend the majority of the class out in the hall trying to find the bathroom that is unlocked. It wastes the student’s time and makes them feel frustrated, and it especially wastes time that could have been spent doing assignments or participating in class. 

When the trend was small or minor objects were being taken, it was easier for school district’s to deal with it. However, when it starts to affect the whole school and every student has to deal with the consequence, it becomes even bigger of an issue and becomes more annoying. 

To add onto the fact that these students are stealing from the bathrooms, I don’t understand how it has not backfired onto a student yet. Some of these students are tinkering around with the toilet, which has sewage and flowing water connected to it. How has a student not accidentally flooded the bathroom yet? If a student does not know exactly what they’re doing, it’s bound to happen to somebody. If that does happen, it will just make everything worse, as well cost the school even more in damages. 

This trend may seem like fun and games to those who are seeing it on social media in a passing glance, but it’s extremely annoying for those who are unfortunately stuck dealing with the consequences.