A recent one called on them to destroy their schools’ bathrooms.
Frederick, Md (KM) Frederick County Public Schools have been affected by the most recent Tik Tok challenge. “Most of our middle and high school principals, they’ve seen at least some type of challenge they can trace back to the ‘devious licks.’ challenge,” says Brandon Oland, Communications Manager for the local School System.
The “devious licks” challenge encourages students to take videos of themselves with their smart phones destroying their schools’ bathrooms. “Most of the incidents we’re talking are something you can readily fix, such as hand sanitizer dispenser getting removed, soap dispensers, things like that,” says Oland.
The videos would be posted on the Tik Tok.
But he says the October challenge is the most concerning. “Encourages students to basically assault teachers by slapping them, and then recording it and posting it. And that’s completely unacceptable,” says Oland.
This problem has mostly been in middle and high schools; not in the elementary schools, says Oland. “Tik Tok is a platform like any other social media platform that can be used for good,” says Oland. “The challenges that are out there have an affect on the local level and schools all over the country,” he says.
Oland says the School System teaches students to use social media responsibly. “Make sure students know the positives and negatives of using social media, and try to instruct how to use it in a constructive way,” he says. “It certainly can be powerful positive tool for everyone involved,” he says.
But students are also reminded there are consequences for vandalizing bathrooms or slapping teachers. “A lot of middle and high schools have shared information with their communities about what families can do to help: speaking to their child about the seriousness of these actions; reminding students they can be held financially and legally responsible for criminal action. School resource officers can be called,” Oland says.
By Kevin McManus