Destructive TikTok challenge wreaks havoc on Colorado Springs school
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- School districts across the nation are having property stolen and damaged due to a new viral trend and now it is happening in Colorado Springs.
The popular app called Tik Tok has become a host for students to post themselves stealing school property in an effort to gain likes and followers. It's called "Devious Licks" - students record themselves damaging and stealing things like fire extinguishers, soap dispensers and even ripping sinks off the walls in school bathrooms.
“Between the material damage and the overtime hours that it costs to allow for our facilities crew to replace the soap dispensers and that kinds of things we are looking at thousands of dollars already," said Lara Disney, Principal of Palmer High School.
Disney said because of this certain parts of the school are now "out of order."
“We have had to lock down bathrooms and things like that which forces students to go to other areas that are further away from the classroom and they miss additional instruction time," she said.
District 11 Colorado Springs School says no students have been caught red-handed yet, but they are reviewing camera footage.
If caught, students could face a misdemeanor charge or felony depending on the cost of the item stolen or damaged.
“You're looking at court with some of these things, tickets, parents having to take their kids out of school," said Officer Brad Krause, a School Resource Officer from the Colorado Springs Police Department.
Because of the ongoing problems, TikTok is taking steps to remove the Devious Lick videos.
In a statement from the company they said:
"We expect our community to stay safe and create responsibly, and we do not allow content that promotes or enables criminal activities. We are removing this content and redirecting hashtags and search results to our community guidelines to discourage such behavior."
TikTok
D11 tells KRDO NewsChannel 13 they have not suspended any students yet. The principal of Palmer High School said she fears that because of the pandemic kids are acting out now that they are back in the classrooms.
