There are confirmed reports about students accepting the “Slap-a-Teacher” challenge, filming themselves assaulting teachers – including an elementary school student in South Carolina accused of slapping their teacher an 18-year-old student facing charges of battery in Louisiana and a middle school student in Braintree, Massachusetts facing disciplinary consequences after allegedly hitting their teachers as well. It was “bad enough” when young people were damaging and destroying property recently the ante has been upped because those activities apparently weren’t enough to satisfy the offenders’ appetite for sensational online content. Law enforcement suggests many of the actions students are taking in conjunction with these social media “challenges” are considered misdemeanors or even felonies and students who perpetrate these acts will be prosecuted for their criminal offenses. According to the October 20 th edition of The Weekly Calistogan, students began taking the larger trash bins and school chromebooks.” This trend is not only occurring at middle- and high schools but recently has also been reported at the college level, including a posted TikTok video of a street sign theft at North Dakota State University. Calistoga (California)’s Junior-Senior High School’s experience with devious licks “began with smaller, petty thefts, like paper towel rolls and classroom supplies… over time, the stealing grew. Not only have Minneapolis-area students at Shakopee West Middle School and Stillwater Area High School recently damaged their bathrooms other students at these schools have recorded themselves stealing school property including exit signs, microscopes, and telephones. This trend began in September 2021 with a TikTok user sharing a video of a box of face masks they claim to have stolen from their school since then, students have posted videos of other items they’ve stolen or destroyed, beginning with bathroom vandalism and progressing to theft of other school property in addition to stolen and damaged paper towel dispensers, sinks, toilet paper holders, and mirrors. defines a lick as “a successful type of theft which results in an acceptable, impressive and rewarding payday for the protagonist.” In this case, the “reward” for students participating in these activities is viral online influence and fame, typically among their peers. By now you’ve likely heard about “Devious Licks,” in which students are committing acts of vandalism in order to post videos about these activities on social media – typically on the video platform TikTok. “Devious licks” and “Slap-a-Teacher” are the latest type of TikTok Challenges, appearing on social media and in commentaries about them in news bulletins, emails home from school principals, and PTA newsletters. Ripping soap dispensers from bathroom walls, vandalizing lockers and trash cans, and – perhaps most unfathomable to me – SLAPPING TEACHERS?! By: Debra Matell Cohen, Ed.D., John Winthrop Wright Director of Ethical Education at.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |