Bizarre ‘devious lick’ trend which saw high-schoolers rip sinks off walls banned from TikTok

The bizarre new “devious lick” trend has been banned by TikTok after thousands of videos were uploaded to the app showing teenagers vandalising their high schools and boasting about stealing items.

The trend saw high-schoolers ripping up sinks and destroying toilets, and stealing objects such as soap dispensers, furniture and even trophies.

TikTok has now removed the #deviouslick hashtag from the app, as well as spelling variations such as #deviouslicks.

A video with over nine million views and two million likes uploaded by TikTok user dannytoumah2 shows destroyed toilet cubicles, torn-down ceilings, and vandalised soap dispensers.

Another video uploaded by TikToker frankortiz882 shows a bathroom that has been completely stripped, with a voiceover saying “this trend got far.”

According to Urban Dictionary, a lick is: “A successful type of theft which results in an acceptable, impressive and rewarding payday for the protagonist.”

Teens uploaded the “devious licks” to TikTok, sometimes describing their licks as “devilish” or “diabolical” depending on what the videos show.

Several TikTokers have uploaded videos of the backlash they’ve received from their schools.

TikTok user fun.jokez recorded a video of a school staff member allegedly rinsing the students for taking part in the challenge.

In the video, the voice over the intercom said they don’t have the resources to call each of their parents to tell them what’s been happening, so the “only recourse they have” is to remove the doors from the hinges in both the girls’ and boys’ bathrooms.

Another TikTok user, graciiimaeee, recorded audio of a school principal promising that if she sees the school’s soap dispenser on any of the students’ TikToks, they’re “going down.”

Several schools have released statements addressing the challenge, with one Kentucky school saying they’ve also observed children “barking” and making “animal noises” at each other.

Truly feral stuff.

The trend has also spilled over onto Twitter, where people have been sharing their own most “devious licks” as well as reposting content from TikTok:

Others took to Twitter to make fun of the trend, even comparing the high schoolers to the protestors who stormed the Capitol in Washington earlier this year:

This isn’t the only recent TikTok trend that’s been banned by the platform. Just last month, the platform banned the “milk crate challenge”, a trend which saw people trying to scale a wobbly pyramid made of crates before it inevitably collapses.

The platform has also played host to other dangerous trends, such as the “blackout challenge” and the “dry scoop challenge.”

Addressing the trend, a TikTok spokesperson said: “We expect our community to stay safe and create responsibly, and we do not allow content that promotes or enables criminal activities.

“We are removing this content and redirecting hashtags and search results to our Community Guidelines to discourage such behaviour.”

Although the “deviant lick” challenge seems to be flagging in popularity after TikTok’s ban, we’re certain this is only the beginning of school-related trends as the academic year gets underway.