Concern About Social Media Pranks At Schools Reaches Halls Of Congress

TAMPA BAY, FL — School and law enforcement officials say social media is to blame for a string of violence and vandalism in Tampa Bay schools.

Both Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister and Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Addison Davis have posted videos warning students against taking on challenges they see on social media sites like TikTok.

TikTok is owned by Beijing-based technology company ByteDance, founded by Chinese billionnaire entrepreneur Zhang Yiming. It's become a popular app for young people to post brief videos.

Last month, officials said school bathrooms were vandalized after TikTok posted a “devious licks” challenge, encouraging students to videotape themselves tearing out toilets, soap and toilet dispensers in school bathrooms.

During the first two weeks of the challenge, the Hillsborough County School District received reports of 20 school restrooms getting vandalized.

This month, TikTok's "devious licks" challenge is more menacing. Students are being dared to slap a teacher on video and then post it on TikTok.

Carrying out these challenges can not only get students suspended, it could land them in jail, said Chronister.

"While it may seem like fun to do silly dances or viral challenges on social media, don't let them go too far," Chronister said in a public service announcement to students. "There are challenges going around that could not only put you in danger but could lead to you being arrested. It's never OK to steal, vandalize property or hurt someone or yourself. It may seem like a silly TikTok challenge, but, trust me, it will have very real consequences."

National Bullying Prevention Month

Davis posted a similar message on Wednesday in conjunction with National Stop Bullying Day.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and much of the negative behavior at schools influenced by social media meets the school district's definition of bullying, including pressuring other students to take actions that violate the school district's student code of conduct or initiating fights with the intention of posting them on social media.

This includes threatening, insulting or dehumanizing actions of students toward teachers like the TikTok "slap a teacher" challenge.

“We know many students are easily influenced by social media but, when social media platforms encourage negative behaviors, dangerous activities or even criminal acts, please know that Hillsborough County Schools will not tolerate it," Davis said.

He said destructive or hurtful behavior influenced by social media "will result in immediate action. Students may not only face school-based charges but criminal charges as well," he said, adding that students who take video of fights or other bad behavior at school and post it on social media will also be disciplined.

This school year, there's been a string of physical fights at Tampa Bay schools captured on cell phone video and posted on social media sites.

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Earlier this month, a fight broke out at Gulf Middle School in New Port Richey, resulting in the arrest of 17 students.

New Port Richey police said the fighting didn't abate when officers showed up. In fact, some students began fighting with officers attempting to break up the fight. Students were found in possession of knives and scissors.

Parents say fights at Lennard High School in Ruskin were videotaped and shared hundreds of times on social media.

Fed up with the fighting and disrepect toward fellow students and teachers, Greco Middle School physical education teacher Christie Como took her concerns to the Hillsborough County School Board.

She said she was personally pushed and punched by a 12-year-old student when she tried to break up a classroom fight.

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“Individual children are getting beat up by gangs of students,” Como said. “They are getting kicked in the head and slammed into the concrete. They are blacking out because they cannot defend themselves from the gang of kids attacking them. No student should be in fear of getting jumped at school, yet that is what is happening every day," she said in an email to the school board.

She believes the fights are exacerbated by students videotaping the attacks on their cell phones and then posting the videos to social media sites.

“If there weren’t cell phones on students, these attacks couldn’t be set up and students wouldn’t be notified of upcoming fights,” she said. “In 20 years of teaching, I have never worked at a more chaotic place."

School district spokeswoman Tanya Arja said the school district is using conflict resolution programs and providing counseling at Greco Middle School to quell the fighting and "reinforce the behaviors we expect of all students.”

She attributes the escalation of negative behavior to the stress families are under due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Across the state and the nation, the pandemic has caused angst among adults and children,” Arja said. “Many of our children are not emotionally equipped to handle their feelings and may not know how to resolve conflict in a positive manner.”

Concerns Reach U.S. Capitol

It's a concern that's reached the halls of Congress.

U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Tarpon Springs, said he believes "big tech" bears some responsibility for the bad behavior.

When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared before an Energy and Commerce congressional committee in March, Bilirakis called him to task for his plans to create an Instagram platform specifically for users under the age of 13.

"I find that very concerning, targeting this particular age bracket, 13 and under, given the free services. How exactly will you be making money or are you trying to monetize our children, too, and get them addicted early?" Bilirakis grilled Zuckerberg.

"Armed with survey data from constituents, I let Zuckerberg know that parents and citizens in our district did not trust the industry to get it right when it came to protecting kids online," Bilirakis said.

He said he and the energy and commerce committee spearheaded an oversight letter requesting internal studies about the social media platform’s research on the impact of its products on kids’ mental health.

"When whistleblowers revealed internal studies showing the company knew its products were dangerous for teens and failed to do anything about it, I once again made it clear in recent hearings that this deceitful behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," Bilirakis said. "As a result of this relentless pressure, the company (Facebook) announced it will voluntarily agree to stop development of its new Instagram for kids platform."

Nevertheless, Bilirakis said it's clear that the social media companies aren't going to regulate themselves.

"Despite this, we know that big tech is not an effective self-regulator, which is why we must take action to ensure social media companies do the right thing," he said.

Bill To Teach Social Media Literacy

Davis said social media companies aren't solely to blame. This week the school district sent a letter to all parents urging them to sit down with their children and discuss this behavior and the consequences that could follow students for years.

Florida Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, the father of three young children, agrees that parents bear some responsbility but feels the school system should be doing more to educate students on the pitfalls of social media.

On Wednesday, he filed Senate Bill 480, for consideration during the 2022 legislative session. The bill calls for mandatory instruction on social media literacy in public schools.

"Social media is pervasive in our society and frequently targets our children," Burgess said. "Being a parent today requires constant vigilance and education, but parents do not have to do this alone."

He said his social media literacy bill will help children navigate the world of social media by requiring school districts to teach children about the advantages and disadvantages of social media. Additionally, the curriculum will identify some of the consequences of oversharing on social media.

"As a parent, I know how confusing the rapidly changing nature of social media can be, so my bill ensures that all of the instructional materials for this topic will be made available online for parents," he said.

Florida's Most Violent Schools

Parent Max Schachter founded the website Safe Schools for Alex in memory of his son, Alex Schacter, who was killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

He uses data compiled from the Florida Department of Education School Environmental Safety Incident Reporting site to give parents of sense of how much violence is taking place in their student's school.

The website ranks Greco Middle School 551 out of 553 middle schools in the state for the number of violent incidents reported.

In comparison, Gulf Middle School, where 17 students were arrested, received a moderate ranking for violent incidents — 294 out of 553 middle schools.

Lennard High School faired poorly on the website's ranking scale. It was ranked "very high" for the number of violent incidents reported receiving a ranking of 407 out of 505 high schools statewide.

The Tampa Bay high schools that received "very high" ratings for school violence were:

• Hudson High School 501 out of 505
• Blake High School ranked 485 out of 505
• East Bay High School 476 out of 505
• Fivay High School 471 out of 505
• Freedom High School 461 out of 505
• Seminole High School 459 out of 505
• Zephyrhills High School ranked 454 out of 505
• Gulf High School 449 out of 505
• Middleton High School 444 out of 505
• Wharton High School 440 out of 505
• Spoto High School 415 out of 505
• Tarpon Springs High School 409 out of 505
• Mitchell High School 408 out of 505
• Lennard High School 407 out of 505
• Dunedin High School 406 out of 505

The Tampa Bay middle schools that received "very high" ratings for school violence were:

• Greco Middle School 551 out of 553
• Dowdell Middle Magnet School 550 out of 553
• Giunta Middle School549 out of 553
• Burnett Middle School 545 out of 553
• Young Middle Magnet School 538 out of 553
• Mann Middle School535 out of 553
• McLane Middle School 519 out of 553
• Turkey Creek Middle School 511 out of 553
• Burns Middle School 509 out of 553
• Rodgers Middle School 498 out of 553
• Progress Village Middle Magnet School 496 out of 553
• Eisenhower Middle School 478 out of 553
• Tyrone Middle School 455 out of 553
• Buchanan Middle School 446 out of 553
• Webb Middle School 444 out of 553

This is part of a long-running "Menace of Bullies" Patch national advocacy reporting project with stories illustrating how bullying and cyberbullying affect today's youth and what's being done to stop it.

The project looking at society's roles and responsibilities in bullying was launched in 2018 with the goal of offering solutions that save lives.

Read More: The Menace Of Bullies: A Patch Series

• Bullied To Death: When Kids Kill With Words

Do you have a story to tell? Are you concerned about how your local schools handle bullies and their targets? Email us at bullies@patch.com and share your views in the comments.