“Devious Licks” Trend on TikTok
When an anonymous user posted a video taking apart a hand sanitizer dispenser and shattering its case on the bathroom floor on the social media platform TikTok, the video instantly went viral, now surpassing 2.7 million views since its posting on Sept. 6. The video’s caption reads “only a month into school and got this absolute devious lick”, which inspired other similar videos with the hashtag #deviouslicks. Because the video depicts the damaging of school property, it has been taken down by TikTok in an attempt to stop the trend. However, the video influenced other students to repost or stitch together their own TikTok videos with footage of themselves stealing sinks and bathroom stall doors, as well as defacing exit signs.
When the first “devious licks” video went viral, many people wanted their videos to go viral just as the first one did, leading to thousands of students defacing school property. According to The Harvard Crimson, the bigger the object students were stealing, the more impressive they were considered to the audiences of TikTok and the more views they would accumulate for their videos. Junior Grace Kim, an avid TikTok user, sees why “devious licks” may be an enjoyable trend to some.
“I think people are enjoying this trend because [they view] it as a source of entertainment,” Kim said. “Most people in school are rebellious, but destroying school property should not be done because of their [immaturity]. They do it because they want to be seen as cool and [post] enjoyable [content for] their viewers.”
With “devious licks” becoming more known worldwide, it has managed to make its way onto Peninsula’s campus, specifically the Silver Spur building’s boys bathroom. Anonymous students took the stall doors down, causing the bathroom to be shut down on Sept. 19. Sophomore Prachod Kakatur is concerned about how this trend directly affects campus.
“This trend has affected our school in very negative ways,” Kakatur said. “The cost of the stolen item, [and] also the harming of other people, [has taken a toll] on the school. The trend encourages people to perform terrible actions that can be [damaging to the school] and the community as a whole.”
Since the trend’s peak on Sept. 11, videos of users participating in the “devious lick” trend have been appearing less often than before. This decrease could be attributed to TIkTok’s announcement that any captions or hashtags with the words “devious lick” will be banned, as it violates community guidelines. World History teacher and junior varsity water polo coach Charles Kim believes that the students who partake in the “devious lick” trend should be punished properly and wants students to recognize how dangerous their actions can be.
“I think social media is a way to grab people’s attention, whether it is [in] a positive or negative way,” Charles Kim said. “This trend specifically has given the [negative] impression that the students want more attention from TikTok [viewers]. [Administrators] should ultimately punish the kids who are doing such damage to school property and give them a proper lesson for their infatuous decisions.”
The “devious lick” trend has remained a focal point on TikTok in the past few months, receiving more attention from TikTok audiences like students and teachers. With the damages that students have done to school property, school administrators have to deal with the repercussions. Principal Dr. Brent Kuykendall is grateful the school has not had many students partake in the “devious lick” trend, yet he warns students on how their actions can hurt their reputation.
“I think [social media] will motivate students to make irresponsible decisions, which is a representation of [social media’s influence on students,]” Kuykendall said. “[It] is a trend students should certainly avoid.”
The “devious lick” trend, while starting off as a joke, developed into a major influence for teenagers. In schools around the country, students have been trying to “go viral” by stealing and defacing their school’s property. Through TikTok’s constant monitoring of their platform, they plan to remove the trend and create new restrictions for the app’s content.
