All students involved will be kept anonymous for their safety and privacy

Social media has offered a whole slew of innovation in the learning environment. However, the increase of such things has led to an online trend to ravage Liberty.

Principal Dr. Nelson has been aware of this before it reached Liberty.

“Across the country and in our district, there are kids who think it’s funny to vandalize and to steal from the school,” Nelson said.  

Specifically, the “Devious Licks” trend has gained some serious online popularity, and participation. If you open Tiktok, the app it originated from, is filled to the brim with videos of everyone’s respective “licks”. The trend consists of using a popular TikTok sound and stealing or “licking” something from school buildings. Some people satirically claimed that they stole their principal while others openly confessed to stealing school property. You may have seen stolen soap dispensers or a bathroom sign missing, but the school administration is worried about escalation.

“I just think that you just create a situation where a lot of people are getting what is perceived as positive attention [on social media] from negative behavior,” Nelson said. 

Quite frankly, Dr. Nelson is done with it. Reports of multiple petty thefts have been reported and the build-up led to his announcement on the intercom. Since the announcement, rumors have spread around the school like wildfire. Students were spinning tales of stolen toilets and missing walls. Some even claimed that a school toilet was vandalized to the point of needing to be removed. All rumors of such crimes have been refuted by principal Nelson. He then explained in an interview that the sheer amount of thefts overwhelmed administration until all they could do was make one warning to the student body.

“We will look into it thoroughly, we will interview all your friends, and every act will be turned over to the police for criminal charges,” said Nelson in his Tuesday announcement over the intercom. He certainly held up his end of the bargain.

Recently, a student has been apprehended after allegedly “licking” a fire extinguisher, the evidence of which he posted on his personal Tik Tok account. A later post by another student shows the alleged thief being taken out of class. Rumors of this have not been confirmed for the sake of privacy.

“At the end of the day, each of us have a conscience and know what’s right and what’s wrong, wrong is wrong and will always be wrong,” declared Dr.Nelson, who just wants the stealing and vandalism to come to a stop.

If you witness school property being vandalized or stolen, or discover it after the fact, please report it to administrative staff immediately.