The recent rash of vandalism spurred on by a TikTok social media challenge has made it to Yukon schools.
The Yukon Public Schools district has had damage, and a district official released a statement addressing the challenge.
“You may have heard of a recent challenge trending on TikTok referred to as “devious licks”. The “devious licks” challenge involves students posting videos that show them stealing, damaging or showing off items taken from school,” the district statement reads.
The trend has escalated across Yukon middle and high school levels and has been addressed with a variety of school disciplinary actions, the district statement reports.
“However, the continued escalation of this challenge is resulting in severe damage to our buildings and rising costs for repairs and replacement of damaged areas,” the statement reads.
“Our efforts to stop the vandalism have not had much effect in stopping so additional actions will be taken.”
On Monday, September 20th, Yukon Public Schools officials started reporting these incidents and associated perpetrators to the Yukon Police Department and filing charges of vandalism. The fine for such crimes can be up to $1000 per incident.
“We encourage you to speak with your child about consequences for taking part in these kinds of criminal incidents that disrupt our schools, ultimately costing the district and you as a taxpayer a substantial amount in repairing damaged areas and replacing broken and stolen equipment. Questions parents can ask include, “What are you seeing online?” “What do you think about this?” “Would you participate?” And “If you participate, what are the consequences?”
“Thank you for your cooperation and understanding in this matter,” the statement reads.
