A national TikTok trend has caused hundreds of dollars in damage forcing the closure of all but one boys bathroom in the main building. “Last week there was some damage done to the (boys) bathrooms,” said Principal Thomas Caudle. “We looked at the cameras to time stamp it and to figure out how to identify the person.” There are more than 100 cameras on campus to provide information into who may have damaged the bathrooms.

Principal Caudle said it “Happened to one bathroom another time after it was repaired, then happened to two other bathrooms later on in the week.” After that point he did some research and discovered this was a national TikTok trend hashtagged ‘devious licks.’ “So I had to draw the line because it was not slowing down and that went into my decision to shut down the bathrooms.”

The original TikTok has been taken down along with any hashtag ‘devious licks’ because “this phrase may be associated with behavior or content that violates our guidelines. Promoting a safe and positive experience is TikTok’s top priority. For more information, we invite you to review our Community Guidelines” as TikTok states.

Schools around the United States are reporting thousands of dollars in damage. “It starts to impact us as a building and kids cannot use the bathroom; it’s costing this building money. I don’t want to spend money on that, I want to spend money on post-secondary education and other things that we need,” said Caudle.

Parents, students, and staff received an email on Monday about the damage and reasoning to closing all but one bathroom. According to Caudle, the plan is to only have the bathrooms closed for this week as long as there is no additional damage done. “If you have any information, tell any trusted adult. The person who did the damage will get fined and formal charges will be pressed,” said Caudle.

“Respect your ‘house,’ you are here for nine months a year, five days a week. So I very humbly ask, laugh at the video if you want but please don’t do that to our school,” said Caudle.