Social media challenge brings increase in school vandalism
According to digital anthropologist Giles Crouch, the TikTok social media trend known as "The Devious Licks challenge" is spreading quickly online.
"It is going down to Latin America and it worked up to Canada very quickly," said Crouch. "This is being seen all across Canada."
The challenge features some students destroying school bathroom fixtures while damaging and stealing other school property items.
"Soap dispensers coming out of the walls," said Reign Sherrington, the brother of a Halifax-area student. "I heard at Halifax West High School, they had sinks coming out of the walls."
TikTok is removing "Devious Licks" posts from its platform. Crouch said students likely think it is only a prank, not vandalism.
"This is sort of the digital age version of pulling the fire alarm from 20-plus years ago, when we were in high school," said Crouch.
The issue is serious enough, that Millwood High School sent a note home to parents.
Jenna Kedy is a student at Bay View High School.
"Our school last week sent a huge email that said they wanted people to stop breaking soap dispensers and paper towel dispensers," said Kedy. "And then I started hearing from friends and seeing videos on my TikTok feed from people at various schools around Halifax, breaking soap dispensers and breaking paper towel holders."
Crouch said young people often participate in a social media activityto join the crowd and gain peerre-enforcement.
"They are more concerned about getting social acceptance," said Crouch.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.