Social media challenges are dares that take over the internet, open to whoever would like to participate and post. They can be completely random, hilarious or outright foolish. With the now popular app TikTok, more challenges have seemed to arise. Most of the challenges are harmless and creative but since the new school year started, students decided to take a different route. Starting August 2021, the ‘devious lick’ challenge began spreading on everyone’s For You page. With the first video racking up 7.2 million views in just two days, the challenge became viral. These ‘devious licks’, licks defined as theft, consisted of stealing random objects from classrooms then recording and posting what they took. It started off with objects such as staplers, soap dispensers and even a microscope. But as the trend became more popular, the objects students were stealing became more outrageous. Bathroom doors, sinks, security cameras and exit signs are just some examples of things students across the country have allegedly been stealing from their schools.

Senior Pilthai Derosier commented, “I’ve seen some pretty crazy stuff on my For You page that people have stolen. I don’t understand how people are getting away with this and not being caught.” With high schools nationwide being affected by this challenge, it has even headlined local news outlets. In states such as Alabama, Kentucky, Arizona and Florida, there have been reports of students being arrested with criminal charges of vandalism and theft.

Along with the videos of things being stolen, there have also been numerous videos of students recording the announcements school administrators have given about the consequences of participating in the challenge. Schools are not the only ones taking action, Tiktok and Twitter have now blocked the search of the hashtag stating, “This phrase may be associated with behavior or content that violates our guidelines.” TikTok has also deleted the main background audio used for the trend making it unavailable for usage.

As for Suncoast, there have also been reports of vandalism in the boy’s bathrooms with mirrors and soap dispensers gone and graffiti on the walls. Although the administration would not comment, they are aware of this issue as our principal has addressed it in the morning announcements. As of September 2021, Tiktokers are pulling a reverse card on the ‘devious licks’ and replacing it with ‘Angelic Yields’. There are now videos of students replacing the soap in the soap dispensers and leaving new rolls of toilet paper in the bathrooms.