MOUNT VERNON — Some of Knox County’s school districts have had upticks in student vandalism in recent weeks, which administrators believe is because of a social media challenge.
A September trend on TikTok called “devious lick” prompted students across the country to vandalize and steal items on school property. TikTok began removing hashtags and redirecting searches about the “devious lick” trend in late September, citing the user-documented vandalism as promoting criminal activity, which is a violation of its community guidelines.
Mount Vernon, Fredericktown and Centerburg each recorded incidents — vandalism in restrooms — likely related to the trend.
All of the recorded incidents occurred at the middle or high school level.
Additional TikTok challenges are slated for other months of the school year, including a “slap a teacher” challenge which began in October.
“The challenge encourages students to slap a teacher or staff member and run before being caught committing the assault,” according to a situational awareness bulletin posted by the Ohio School Safety Center. “The incident must (also) be filmed or the challenge does not ‘count.’ ”
Most of the recent “devious lick” incidents at Knox County schools have gone unpunished because students have not been caught. The incidents have occurred solely in restrooms where there are no cameras and few to no witnesses.
However, the county’s largest district, Mount Vernon, has issued consequences for students ranging from suspension to restitution, superintendent Bill Seder said. Seder said if students participate in the “slap-a-teacher” challenge, consequences will be more severe.
“In relation to the incidents that have already taken place, with regards to restrooms, those have all been handled in-house,” Seder said. “We’ve not taken that out to law enforcement, but be assured that if October would ever come to some sort of a realization, we would push that one to the maximum level that we could.”
Mount Vernon has recorded four incidents of vandalism believed to be related to the “devious lick” trend, one incident at the middle school and three at the high school, Seder said.
The incidents recorded in Mount Vernon, Centerburg and Fredericktown occurred in mid-to-late September.
The four incidents at Mount Vernon as well as two incidents at Centerburg middle/high school involved vandalism to soap dispensers and toilets, school officials said.
Fredericktown recorded three incidents believed to be related to the trend: one in the middle school and two in the high school, also all in restrooms, middle/high school principal Brent Garee wrote in an email to Knox Pages.
“The incidents were all petty vandalism — pulling out urinal pads and removing a paper towel dispenser,” Garee wrote.
Centerburg and Fredericktown have not identified who participated in the vandalism, and therefore the schools have not issued punishments, both Centerburg middle/high school principal Ryan Gallwitz and Garee said.
However, Gallwitz said if students are caught, they will face similar punishments to those in Mount Vernon.
“It is a suspendable offense,” he said. “It’s vandalism. We would want restitution. We’d want them to pay for it, and there would probably be charges filed — that would depend on what the prosecutor would want to do.
“But, our taxpayers have provided us with an amazing building, and it’s our duty to take care of it. And, if somebody is damaging our building, I would want them prosecuted.”
Vandalism at Centerburg has been limited to boys restrooms, Gallwitz said, although it is unclear whether those participating in the vandalism were middle or high school students.
“There’s one bathroom in particular, and both student bodies use it during their lunch periods because of where it’s located,” Gallwitz said.
Centerburg middle/high school has made changes to discourage future vandalism.
“We moved the soap dispensers to the entrance of the bathroom where video surveillance can still capture when people go into the bathroom,” Gallwitz said.
Staff presence has also been increased in the areas where vandalism has occurred, Gallwitz said.
“I go in and out of the bathrooms just about during every class period trying to make sure kids are behaving,” Gallwitz said.
Other districts have focused on raising awareness of the trend among faculty and parents/guardians, including Mount Vernon which sent notices to families urging them to speak with their students about not following the trend, and the legal consequences that could result if they do.
Several Knox County superintendents said while vandalism is not uncommon at the middle and high school level, typically there are only a few incidents throughout the course of a full school year.
Danville, East Knox and Knox County Career Center have not recorded incidents related to the “devious lick” trend as of Oct. 4, East Knox superintendent Steve Larcomb, Career Center superintendent Kathrine Greenich and Danville superintendent Jason Snively wrote in emails to Knox Pages.
Although Danville has not recorded any incidents related to the TikTok trend, Snively wrote the use of electronics during the school day is a general concern.
“There is always a general concern for the students misusing their WCD (wireless communication device), which we do have a board policy that prohibits inappropriate use of a WCD,” Snively wrote.
