‘Devious lick’ TikTok trend costs SLO County schools thousands in damage, stolen items
A national TikTok trend has inspired some San Luis Obispo County high school students to steal or damage thousands of dollars of school property over the past few weeks.
The “devious lick” trend has circulated on the popular social media platform, with some videos posted gathering millions of views and likes.
A “lick” is a slang term that refers to a “successful type of theft which results in an acceptable, impressive and rewarding payday for the protagonist,” according to the online Urban Dictionary.
Students most commonly steal or damage soap dispensers in school bathrooms, according to local high school principals. Other stolen items include bathroom mirrors, toilet paper dispensers, a toilet flush sensor, a school phone, electrical outlet covers and wall tiles.
In one instance at Atascadero High School, students took the bathroom stall door off its hinges.
“We’ve had to close down bathrooms,” Atascadero High School Principal Dan Andrus said. “There has been a few thousand dollars of damage. It’s an annoyance, and it’s a significant cost.
“The school doesn’t consider this a fun TikTok trend. It’s a criminal act.”
Andrus said he’s particularly frustrated at the trend because some of the bathrooms that have been vandalized were recently opened after bond-funded renovations.
Trend hits schools around SLO County
Lucia Mar Unified School District middle and high schools reported about $7,000 total in damaged and stolen items, Templeton High School has seen a few hundred dollars worth of damage, and San Luis Obispo High School reported only a few items were stolen or damaged.
“We’re at the point where we don’t really have soap in the bathrooms,” Templeton Principal Josh Aston said.
Principals said the vandalism and theft incidents peaked last week and have since died off.
TikTok announced on Wednesday that it was banning “devious lick” hashtags from its platform and redirecting searches for the trend, saying they violate the app’s community guidelines. However, by simply misspelling the trend (typing in “decious llick,” for example), you can still find videos of teens stealing or vandalizing items at school.
Schools identify, fine students
Schools are taking the damage done seriously.
“We’re in the process of finding out who did it, and we will charge students,” Aston said.
Students usually commit the “licks” in bathrooms where there are no cameras.
However, Andrus said the school has been able to track down some of the students who have stolen or damaged property and sent them home with fines to pay.
School principals said the trend is being carried out by a very small number of students. The majority of students seem frustrated over the “devious licks,” the principals said.
Rollin Dickinson, the principal at San Luis Obispo High School, said the trend is troubling, because it comes just after schools have been allowed to fully reopen to in-person instruction after more than a year of mostly online learning.
“Our staff and our students have been vocal that we are and need to be better than dangerous TikTok trends, and we are committed to that being true,” he wrote to The Tribune in an email. “Especially coming back after the year and a half we have had, with so much disorder and isolation, it is essential that we hold our students to a high standard. It is so important that we are together again.”
This story was originally published September 17, 2021 at 3:05 PM.
