School superintendents across Colusa County are telling students that good behavior is more rewarding than bad behavior, especially after dealing with the fallout of the recent TikTok challenges.
Officials said a new social media challenge to “smack a staff member” is even more reckless than last month’s challenge encouraging students to vandalize school restrooms – and could result in criminal charges if students participate.
A monthly challenge list began circulating in September, asking students to first take or cause damage to school property, and then post the video of the vandalism to TikTok with the hashtag #DeviousLicks. The challenge went viral on multiple social media sites, resulting in millions of dollars in public property damages across the U.S. and a public backlash against the trend.
“We have suffered bathroom damages,” said Williams Unified Superintendent Sandra Ayon. “Once we became aware of the challenges, we put up signs at the bathrooms, made announcements in the school bulletin, and administrators addressed students by visiting classes.”
TikTok, a social networking service owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has since banned “Devious Licks” videos from the platform after the site was flooded with videos of junior and high school students vandalizing school property.
While TikTok said the videos violated the app’s community guidelines and have removed many of them, the challenges and videos still circulate on Twitter and Snapchat (Facebook).
‘We have had some bathroom vandalism at our middle and high schools,” said Pierce Superintendent Carol Geyer. “It has included dispensers for soap, paper towels, toilet paper, and seat covers ripped off the walls. We believe it is associated with the Tik Tok challenge in September.”
After an October challenge to “smack a teacher” circulated, the California Teachers Association issued a warning that slapping an educator is considered assault and recording on school property without permission is illegal.
“In addition to potential serious harm to victims, a student perpetrator could face serious consequences, including expulsion or criminal prosecution,” the organization wrote.
Local superintendents said they will be proactive in steering students onto the right path and encouraging good behavior at all times.
“At our middle school, the ELD teacher puts out a weekly video on Fridays,” Geyer said. “She has challenged the student body to record kind deeds and that she will post them on the video page.”
Princeton Superintendent Cory Williams said, except for one minor incident that occured, Princeton students have chosen to be respectful and not participate in the challenges.
School officials everywhere have asked parents to carefully monitor their children’s social media use and talk to them about not participating in challenges, especially those that call for youth to engage in criminal or dangerous behavior. ■