All across the country, students at high schools and middle schools have been participating in a trend called “devious licks.” This trend is being executed differently at each school, but they all have one unifying factor: theft. 

“A devious lick is a trend that started on TikTok, where people vandalize the school and take things because they think it’s funny,” said Sophie Marie Morgan (‘23).

Other students view devious licks as a competitive trend between social media users.

“A devious lick is something that kids on TikTok steal, and it’s a competition to try and steal the best thing,” said Paige Parker (’22).

A majority of students used to find them funny before Chamblee was involved.

“They were funny from the start, but now people just destroy the school by taking all the soap from the bathrooms and all that stuff. They took some desks from my classroom today. We’re missing three desks in AP Gov. I don’t know how they took a whole desk, but they did it,” said Jonathon John (‘23).

Even before these devious licks occurred at Chamblee, many students watched videos of them on social media platforms, such as TikTok. 

“My favorite was when someone stole a school bus,” said John. 

Other DeKalb County schools have begun to be affected as well.

“My favorite was when Dunwoody people broke a urinal. Pretty funny,” said Shruti Nainwal (‘24).

While many students at Chamblee think these “licks” are funny, others have a more critical view on the matter.

“I think that freshmen should stop trying to prove a point for a TikTok because they’re just going to get suspended and no one actually cares. They’re just hurting themselves,” said Avri Bartalozzi (’22).

The students pulling these devious licks, regardless of their grade level, are putting their futures at risk. 

“I think that it’s stupid that people are trading internet fame for ruining their future. Cause if they get caught, you know what I mean? It goes on their record and […] they might not be able to get into colleges […]. I think it’s stupid,” said Dempsey Allers (‘24).

Many schools have begun to implement consequences to try and counteract the trend. 

“I’ve seen schools having assemblies. It’s so bad that they’re calling the police and having people snitch. [At one school] if you snitch, you get like $500,” said Emma Mandujano Herrera (‘25).

Since the vandals aim for the easier things to get their hands on, most of the school bathrooms have been affected heavily. One of the most popular items is the soap dispensers, leaving countless without proper hygiene.

“I think it’s kind of irresponsible and reckless of people to be taking soap, especially in the age of COVID, there’s germs. You know the last thing you want to take is soap when you need to wash your hands. And, I think that it’s a great idea for there to be more security around the bathrooms to make sure that soap isn’t taken,” said Yamrot Yeshitela (‘24).

Some students find the trend inconvenient if it affects them, but wish to see it continue overall.

“My thoughts on devious licks are that they are hilarious, but they have been getting a little bit out of hand. Here at Chamblee, it’s only been tiny things, like a microscope and soap, but there’s no soap in the bathrooms now. It’s kinda [annoying] me off because I’m trying to wash my hands and I have to go to the boys’ locker room to get some soap. We should stop it here, but keep it going at other schools,” said MaKayla Williams (‘24). 

Teachers and staff are enforcing rules that the administration hopes will curb this trend, such as requiring a bathroom pass, escorting students to the bathroom, and sometimes completely preventing students from using the bathroom at all.

“Our teacher says that we’re not allowed to go to the bathroom during her class unless it’s an absolute emergency, but I think that you can’t control when someone has to urinate. You can’t control how big or how small their bladder is, so to limit their rights is absolutely insane,” said Yeshitela.

Many of the students at Chamblee have been personally affected by the new rules and believe that they are unreasonable.

“Some kids, especially girls, sometimes have to use the restroom, and they shouldn’t have to be stopped,” said Trinity Walls (24’).

One of the most popular items to steal is paper towel dispensers. At Chamblee, the paper towel dispensers have been relocated to where they are visible from the hallway to avoid stolen property.

While teachers really have no other option to apply these rules, Chamblee students are really only left with the one option, to comply. 

After all of the stealing, the attention around performing a devious lick has died down and there is less pressure on teachers to control these misbehaved students. Now that these robberies are stopping, so are the enforcements on the students and staff for the missing school items.