It is no secret the effect that the Devious Lick trend on TikTok has had on schools across the nation. As soap dispensers and even bathroom stalls vanished, only to reappear on screens, administration became wearier than ever.

As the trend has progressed, we’ve seen multiple vandalism charges in our school alone. Additionally, there are even other alleged “challenges,” for the rest of the school year. The supposed trend for October is hitting a teacher. But how legitimate is this trend, really, especially compared to the commotion created by the first trend? 

A student at South, who remains anonymous, participated in the trend and had to go to court after getting caught removing a mirror from the bathroom.

The student said, “At first it was too much for just taking a mirror off the wall, but when it all got decided, it was a fair punishment.” She regrets participating and says she only did it because it was on TikTok, and she didn’t expect anything bad to happen. When asked about her perspective on the credibility of the second trend (hitting a teacher on the backside and filming it), she says “No one’s gonna do it. None at all.” 

After an announcement made over the intercom by one of our school’s principles, the second Devious Lick trend was formally introduced. Many students attested to not even hearing of the trend until it was mentioned. One student says it is “a misinformed trend that might not even have been created by a student. Yes people participated in the first, but most students aren’t stupid enough to participate in this one. The only reason it’s circulating so much is the stigma from teachers.” One teacher says she’s very disappointed and wouldn’t have believed five years ago that this ever could have happened. She said “If you are participating or laughing just try to be better!”

As teachers become more serious, the trend seems to grow on the internet. Many teachers have formally said that they are fully prepared to press charges, and that such charges may lead to making a participant a registered sex offender. TikTok has responded to the unrest by taking down videos with certain hashtags such as #Devious Lick, #Deviouslick, #deviouslicktrend, and others. Teachers seem to be very perturbed, and students amused. Beyond the first two challenges a list has been disseminated with a new monthly challenge for the rest of the year. There is no proof that this was written by a student, but that seems to be the silent agreement. 

As the Devious Lick story develops, so does the concern and outrage. The lowered interest in the second trend possibly alludes to illegitimacy, despite the tumult of the first trend. The general consensus among teachers seems to be that they are not afraid to press charges, and encourage students to report any misbehavior they hear of. There is no way to know whether the trend will stick, we only have to hope for an end to the unrest.