Chaos in NJ schools: ‘Devious Lick’ TikTok trend explained
Haledon, East Brunswick, and Vineland are just a few of the New Jersey High Schools that have had brushes with a destructive new TikTok trend called “Devious Licks.” Perhaps your district has sent warning letters about it.
As if nailing a TikTok dance wasn’t impressive enough, it seems as though a new trend has gone viral, one that NJ Parents are having to keep an eye out for.
Back in September, NJ.com reports a TikTok video was posted by a user featuring him and what appeared to be a stolen box of masks from his school. He captioned the video, “A month into school...absolutely devious lick. Should’ve brought a mask from home. Now look at you walking round campus maskless you dirty dog.”
The video received almost 400,000 views before being taken down, which was simply not enough time to put a halt to the trend.
The “Devious Lick” trend appears to be a competition between high school aged TikTok users to see who can get the most viral for capturing their own theft. Many schools have become aware of this trend and are warning students of the many consequences they’ll face if they choose to participate.
Words can only go so far, however, as many students recorded these warnings and posted them to TikTok only to receive more engagement.
A school in Florida even spoke about several soap dispensers, exit signs and signage that had gone missing and are encouraging students to stop this behavior.
While TikTok has put a ban to the trend, kids have easily begun to find loopholes.
Didn’t know this trend was a thing? While that may be a good sign, it’s still a great idea to talk to your children or students about it and verify that they understand the repercussions.
Many New Jersey schools have already had to deal with destruction, theft and vandalism as a result of this “trend.”
Vandalism and theft should never take place on school property, and it’s important to make sure social media generation is aware of that. While TikTok trends eventually fade out, they will be replaced.
It’s important to make sure they’ll be ignored rather than perpetuated.
The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco. Any opinions expressed are Judi Franco’s own.