Vandalism Linked To 'Devious Licks' At Birmingham Area Schools

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Several schools in the Birmingham area have reported cases of vandalism linked to the "devious licks" challenge on TikTok, prompting action by school officials and law enforcement.

The viral challenge on TikTok has prompted police departments and school systems to deal with vandalism and stolen property crimes committed by students as teens try to get more followers and garner more attention on the social media app.

The "devious lick challenge" has TikTok users stealing items from classrooms and vandalizing bathrooms in order to get more shares on the platform. This new trend has already affected schools in Vestavia Hills and Trussville in the last week.

Hewitt-Trussville Middle School has seen multiple incidents of vandalism and theft as part of the "devious lick" challenge, and school officials recently issued a statement to parents regarding the trend.

"Vandalism and theft are class 2 code of conduct violations," the statement said. "This includes destructive actions in bathrooms and taking items from a teacher/student without their permission. Suspension is a disciplinary action that could take place for these behaviors."

HTMS has reported vandalism in bathrooms, including toilet paper dispensers ripped from walls and trash stuffed into the toilets.

Trussville City Schools superintendent Patti Neill released a statement to parents Friday addressing the issue.

"Parents Please Be Aware: 'Devious Licks' is the name of an absurd new challenge that has been trending on the popular social media app TikTok," Neill said. "The 'goal' of this latest challenge is for students to either damage school property or steal items and post videos of it online – all in an attempt to go viral. Trussville City Schools has experienced vandalism in connection with this challenge. It’s important to note that as with all misconduct, students caught will be met with swift and decisive sanctions according to the TCS Code of Student Conduct."

Neill said any students caught vandalizing TCS Board property could also face criminal charges through the Trussville Police Department in addition to school disciplinary action. "This is a 'social media challenge' that TCS does NOT take lightly," Neill said. "Please help us encourage all students to practice common sense, responsibility, and good character. It would be helpful if you would monitor your child’s social media activities. Should a person become aware of vandalism/misconduct related to this or any other challenge, we encourage bystanders/witnesses to report the activity to school authorities immediately."

Vestavia Hills High School said it is investigating cases of theft and vandalism at the school as well, and school officials sent a letter to parents regarding the issue Wednesday.

"There is a Tic Tok/Snapchat trend that is going around called ‘devious licks’ where students are engaging in acts of theft and vandalism," the letter said. "We would like for you to speak to your student about the seriousness of theft and vandalism to the school and public abroad."

In response, TikTok said it would remove any videos hashtagged #deviouslicks or other phrases associated with the challenge.

A TikTok official told AL.com, "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."