The TikTok trend “Devious Licks” has been booming on TikTok and through schools all over the U.S. How this trend works is you have to steal an item from your school and then post your “devious lick” on TikTok. One of the most popular devious lick videos that got the trend going was a tik tok uploaded by the TikToker @dtx.2cent which showed him taking his backpack and pulling out his ultimate devious lick…a hand sanitizer dispenser. This video has over 7 million views and immediately went viral in only two days. After this, other kids around the U.S. started stealing their schools hand sanitizer dispensers and other school items to try and get viral like @dtx.2cent did. There are now hundreds of videos with other kids showing their “devious licks”. Rumor is one of the bathrooms in GWMS even had to close because of this trend. This trend is without a doubt one of the most notorious, but has definitely gotten out of hand. 

It is important to address how rash and ignorant this trend is. Even though I will admit to laughing at quite a few of these videos, stealing items at your school will get you harshly reprimanded and could even get you arrested! Stealing is still a crime even if it got someone viral on TikTok. It’s not worth getting suspended, expelled or even going to prison just to follow a trend that will end up being forgotten and replaced anyways. A 15 year old teenager in Arizona was arrested and is now facing criminal charges for stealing his school’s toilet paper dispenser. So, please do not follow this trend. 

Thankfully, some people have realised how their schools are short on supplies due to the ongoing thefts, so a new trend called “angelic yields” started. How this trend works is you take the item you stole because of the “devious licks” trend and return it. You can also bring something a little extra to have an even better “angelic yield”. Some of these angelic yields include returning toilet paper, hand sanitizer and even bringing posters and rugs to bathrooms to make them more cozy since they were so empty before. Even though Angelic Yields is a parody of the devious licks trend, at least it gives students a way to give back to their schools instead of taking from it. So as a reminder, students, let’s give back to our school community, rather than stealing from it.