On Thursday, Sept. 16, Bonita Vista High (BVH) Assistant Principal Esther Wise sent an email to students, staff and parents via Jupiter Grades regarding the ‘Devious Lick’ TikTok Challenge. Wise also forwarded a letter from San Diego County Superintendent of Schools Paul Gothold Ed.D.

The ‘Devious Lick’ TikTok challenge encourages individuals to “steal or damage school property” and has garnered approximately “11 million views and many re-creations,” according to Gothold. Moreover, in an article written by Katherine Rodriguez of NJ Advance Media, the trend first began on Sept. 1, when TikTok user ‘jugg4elias’ posted a video, “showing off a box of disposable masks the user claimed to have stolen from a school.” 

Afterward, the trend gained traction amongst other TikTok users in which participants flaunted their stolen property on the platform. The trend earned its name based on the definition provided by Urban Dictionary. The term “lick” refers to “a successful type of theft which results in an acceptable, impressive and rewarding payday for the protagonist.”

As per the email Gothold sent out, students have gone to extreme measures by stealing “soap dispensers, toilet paper holders, microscopes, signs, a box of hand sanitizer, teacher’s car keys, damaging drinking fountains, toilets, fire alarms and more” across San Diego County. 

Building numbers that serve to identify the rows of classrooms were stolen from BVH’s campus. The 200 and 500s buildings fell victim to this TikTok trend. In the 200s row of classrooms, the last zero in the number 200 was removed from the building, leaving a zero-shaped print in its tracks. Furthermore, located in the main hallway, a student stole the zero in between the five and zero in 500, which made it appear as a 50 with a gap in the middle. 

Associated Student Body Technology Commissioner and senior Pablo Dollero noticed the implications of the Devious Licks trend at BVH starting with the missing zeros at the building signs. He explained that currently, the school campus is not in the best condition making it easy for students to “forget that there’s actually money and work involved with everything in the school.” Dollero urged students to be more mindful of their actions and to act appropriately at high school grounds. 

“This isn’t middle school anymore; this is high school. We’re supposed to be young adults [and] be more mature,” Dollero said.

After numerous attempts in trying to reach Wise and BVH Assistant Principal Carlos Siragusa for further specifics regarding the ‘Devious Licks’ on BVH campus, Wise and Siragusa made themselves unavailable for an interview with the Crusader. 

According to Psychology teacher David Economou, he has not been informed of the specific instances of theft taking place at BVH. Additionally, aside from the occasional emails, he receives about students who have been in close proximity to another peer who has COVID-19, other than that, he isn’t told anything. 

“I’m not aware of any incidents on our campus. I don’t have any special information. You guys [students] know as much as we do,” Economou said. 

It is apparent that the trend became increasingly popular among students across school campuses, including BVH. When compared to California’s population of 40 million residents, 11 million views equates to 25 percent of residents. Public learning laboratory website, Exploratorium, provides several studies that illustrate the reasons why people are more prone to follow a crowd to avoid the feeling of being left out. One of the studies further explains that when more people witness an emergency—the less chance that any of them will act because they’re all conforming to the group’s behavior.

“The other reason people conform and go along with the crowd is that we all want to be liked and accepted. The desire to fit in is so strong that people sometimes conform to a group consensus even when it goes against their own judgment—at least in public,” Exploratorium said.

Wise explained that the TikTok challenge is inappropriate on school campuses. She encouraged students to reflect on their misconduct performed on BVH’s campus. To ensure BVH remains an environment where students and staff feel comfortable, Wise urges parents to have a conversation with their children regarding these criminal acts. 

“We ask that you please speak with your student and remind them that this ‘challenge’ is criminal behavior, not an innocent prank,” Wise said. “Let’s work together to put a stop to this now. We appreciate your support to keep our campuses safe by talking to your child about the adverse effects of peer pressure sometimes found on social media platforms. We are asking for the entire community to partner with us to eliminate this behavior on our campuses.”

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“If you have any information regarding these incidents or questions about this matter, please contact the BVHS Administration Team at 619-397-2000,” Wise said.

This piece was updated on Oct. 10, 2021.