Devious Licks: Classic Mischief Or A Troubling Sign of The Times?
On September 1, TikTok user @jugg4elias posted a video on the platform displaying purportedly stolen disposable masks in a backpack. The video was tagged with the hashtag #deviouslicks and was backed by a sped-up sample from the song “Ski Ski BasedGod” by Lil B. Though it has since been taken down as part of TikTok’s attempt to discourage the trend, it and other viral videos like it mean that most middle and high school TikTok users now associate the sample with a widespread trend of theft of school property that quickly escalated in the month of September.
Not everyone is as aware of the connection between the social media trend and the recent increase of theft in schools. An adult who was part of the Kentucky Student Voice Team’s devious licks discussion was under the impression that it was a challenge to defy COVID-19 protocol by physically licking something in a school. Nonetheless, given the prevalence of the trend, most public school teachers, administrators, and other staff can give a barebones explanation of the connection between stolen soap and TikTok.
What remains blurry to many students and teachers alike, however, are the motives behind the viral challenge. Aiden Vilo, a junior at DuPont Manual, a school largely unaffected by devious licks, expressed surprise at the “extent people are going for this trend.” English teacher Erica Cassady noted a defining and disturbing characteristic of devious licks.“This particular trend is different from typical social media trends because it heavily targets schools, ” she said.
When addressing the devious licks, a Greenwood High School administrator emphasized the cornerstones of a positive school: leadership, culture, and safety. He pointed out that these acts specifically impact schools, causing more work and laying a heavy burden on staff members in the midst of a nationwide shortage of custodial staff.
Drew Richardson, a member of the custodial staff at Danville High School, does not think that students participating in theft of bathroom items understand the full impact of their actions. He learned about the trend from his two middle school daughters. But while their experience of the challenge was through a screen, his experience of the impact was firsthand. For Richardson, it meant hectic days, and “having to go back and forth to each bathroom to make sure supplies were there, whether they [students] had torn dispensers off the walls, or just stolen the soap.” His hope is that students come to understand the same principles he teaches his daughters: “Respect people and respect property. That’s the most important thing.”
Stolen items haven’t been limited to soap dispensers and toilet rolls. Items such as smart boards, various safety signs, fire hydrants, and teachers’ personal items have been stolen in schools across the country. One teacher reported a newfound tendency to lock doors and shut their purse. A nearly-stolen Pride flag has caused a teacher at Greenwood High School to lose trust in their students, whom they “think the world of.” They continued, “It hurts my feelings that my items are being targeted; I think my students are wonderful. [But they] steal from me knowing that I think the world of them.”
His hope is that students come to understand the same principles he teaches his daughters: “Respect people and respect property. That’s the most important thing.”
The trend has caused more than just loss of trust. Many schools have had to shut down bathrooms, due to the theft of cameras. This has led to inconvenience for students, teachers, and staff alike. One Danville High School teacher described the challenge of finding time to use the restroom on days when bathrooms on her floor were closed. She shared her frustration in trying to enforce tardies and bathroom policy, when the bathrooms which already were at reduced capacity due to Covid-19 protocols, are closed. A Paul Laurence Dunbar High School student echoed the magnitude of the inconvenience. “It’s foolish” she said. “The first ten minutes of class have to be spent taking male students to the bathroom.”
Most teenagers are not, in fact, participants in the devious licks trend. The administrator at Greenwood High School acknowledged that the vast majority of students he knows see it as immature and disruptive. He said that students tend to self-police and have a generally resilient compass of right and wrong, and he highlighted the critical role of student leaders in setting the tone.
As perpetrators have been known to face severe charges, why would a person participate in a challenge with such high risk and consequence? Why do students choose to participate in the devious licks trend?
This question does not have a simple answer. Most students condemn the acts, but the practical joke nature of some of the videos and actions makes them easy to find comical as well. Many students, myself included, find the simple act of explaining the phrase “devious licks’’ humorous. The name of the challenge itself is hard for most adults to wrap their heads around, while to most teenagers who are accustomed to TikTok-inspired slang, it makes some level of sense.
As frustrating and as inexcusable as acts of theft are, the devious licks trend has become a shared experience among students who have been disconnected since schooling was disrupted in March of 2020. Both the Greenwood administrator and Cassady suggested that the trend is underscored by the loss of school structure, routine, and connection since the beginning of the pandemic. It is also no secret that quarantine meant a dramatic rise in online activity. This is not to say that participants in criminal acts of theft are brave soldiers attempting to rebuild cultural unity among isolated students or depraved teens who have lost all capacity for self-control over quarantine. The perpetrators often act on impulse, and their actions have been, and should certainly be, condemned in totality.
“As frustrating and as inexcusable as acts of theft are, the devious licks trend has become a shared experience among students who have been disconnected since schooling was disrupted in March of 2020.”
In-school pranks, mischief, and acts of rebellion have been a part of high school culture for decades. Some pranks have very different weights and repercussions than others, but a tradition of acts of deviousness, if you will, remains. What has changed is students’ capacity for organization through technology. The devious licks’ trend sets itself apart from incidents that may have occurred even just a couple decades ago, because every student who recognizes the trend refers to it with the same name. Furthermore, students from Kentucky are participating in the destructive challenge at the same time as students from California are. This connection stems from the massive power of social media. We are living in an age in which a video can go viral in one week, and the next, schools across the nation are affected by it. As Vilo put it, “TikTok is an amplifier for ideas and what would [otherwise] be just small-scale pranks.”
In all of this, it may be tempting to dismiss social media as having no redeeming qualities for young people. Indeed, many studies have shown the deeply harmful power of social media to spread misinformation and radicalize youth. But this perspective ignores complexity. For example, it was social media that allowed a quick counter-trend to devious licks to develop. This trend, commonly coupled with the hashtag #angelicyields, has seen students bringing supplies like soap and toilet paper from their own homes to resupply their schools. Just as devious licks went beyond a TikTok joke and caused genuinely negative impact, angelic yields are acts of solidarity with schools and the staff harmed by the original trend.
Living through unprecedented times means that a trend such as devious licks should be understood in a context that allows room for humor, empathy, and accountability to coexist.
All of us bearing witness to the devious licks trend should understand that it did not occur in a vacuum. In a time when technology changes and grows in influence more rapidly than ever before, social experiences and influence are increasingly curated through a screen, often in the form of hyper-connected trends and challenges. In a pandemic that impacts nearly every facet of daily life, students, like most Americans, have lost routine and consistency. When teacher and school staff shortages are a reality across the country, the impact of harmful trends is intensified. Overall, as Cassady explained, it is key that everyone in our schools has a voice in redefining our needs. An emphasis should be put on letting go of an “expectation of normalcy in absence of normal times.” After all, living through unprecedented times means that a trend such as devious licks should be understood in a context that allows room for humor, empathy, and accountability to coexist.
Ramona Pierce (she/her) is a junior at Danville High School in Boyle County, Kentucky. She is a member of the Student Voice Forum’s Editorial Board.
The opinions expressed on the Forum represent the individual students to whom they are attributed. They do not reflect the official position or opinion of the Kentucky Student Voice Team. Read about our policies.