SAN ANTONIO – Bathrooms at many North East Independent School District high schools have been vandalized in recent days, and there’s a good chance a viral TikTok challenge is to blame.
A spokesperson with NEISD said they’ve noticed the issues in most of the district’s high schools.
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“Soap and paper towel dispensers have been ripped off the walls in restrooms, mirrors have been ripped down as well and light fixtures have been broken,” said Executive Director of Communications Aubrey Mika Chancellor.
It’s suspected that a TikTok trend known as “devious lick” could be behind the vandalism. Kids are encouraging each other to steal random items, mostly from schools.
Chancellor said anyone caught participating in the vandalism will face consequences and possibly even criminal charges.
“We have been able to identify many of those involved and more are expected to be identified soon. We take the destruction and stealing of property very seriously. The students responsible not only face discipline at school, but they will also be responsible for the financial impact,” Chancellor said.
NEISD is not the only district having issues with the trend. Schools across the country are reporting recent acts of vandalism.
Update: On Sept. 15, 2021, TikTok sent the following statement to KSAT:
“We expect our community to stay safe and create responsibly, and we do not allow content that promotes or enables criminal activities. We are removing this content and redirecting hashtags and search results to our Community Guidelines to discourage such behavior.”