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New Trier High School officials say students damaged bathrooms while participating in TikTok challenge

New Trier High School officials are reaching out to district families in an effort to prevent further occurrences of the “devious lick” TikTok challenge that has resulted in extensive damage to school bathrooms.

On Sept. 17, New Trier Principals Denise Dubravec and Paul Waechtler sent a letter to the community asking for assistance in stopping the “disappointing actions” that were part of a viral trend circulating on the social media app TikTok.

“Over the past two weeks, we have had multiple incidents in which our school bathrooms have been subject to acts of destruction, from soap dispensers ripped off walls to fixtures stolen and garbage strewn throughout the stalls,” Dubravec and Waechtler wrote. “Students have informed us that this is part of a ‘challenge’ on the TikTok app to take and post videos of vandalism in school bathrooms or to show off items they have stolen from schools.”

District 203 spokeswoman Nicole Dizon said the incidents primarily occurred at the Northfield campus, where freshmen attend. There may been a separate incident at the Winnetka campus, she said.

In addition to the bathroom damage, a musical instrument was stolen but later recovered, Dizon said.

A damage estimate is not yet available and the school has yet to file official police reports as an internal investigation is continuing, Dizon said Monday.

Dubravec and Waechtler wrote that officials spoke to Northfield campus students last week regarding the “seriousness of these incidents” and similar conversations would take place with the Winnetka campus students.

“We also are letting students know that we will pursue strong disciplinary action against those who commit these acts and will report them to the police. At the Northfield campus, we continue to receive reports of trashed bathrooms and have been forced to close some bathrooms to students because of these repeated actions. We simply do not have enough available staff to provide constant monitoring of all bathrooms,” Dubravec and Waechtler wrote.

The principals asked families to speak to students about the impact of the incidents have on the community. Meanwhile, the school has also set up an anonymous tip page to report acts of vandalism.

A spokeswoman at nearby Glenbrook District 225 said neither Glenbrook North nor Glenbrook South High Schools have had a major issue relating to the TikTok challenge. Officials at neighboring Evanston Township High School District 202 also said they “have not been able to confirm the prevalence of incidents related to the TikTok challenge” at the school.

However, New Trier is not along as many suburban school districts confronting what has been a nationwide phenomenon.

While the recent rash of vandalism to school bathrooms across the U.S. is being blamed on the TikTok videos going viral, one expert who studies juvenile crimes said decades before the arrival of social media, some adolescents have viewed vandalism as a way to enhance their status with their peer group.

“Vandalism is acting out in a malicious way, and it’s an act of aggression that is communicating a message against property, but ultimately, it is aimed at people, and at an institution, in this case, their school,” said Arthur Lurigio, a professor of psychology and criminal justice at Loyola University Chicago.

Even law-abiding teens who have never before committed a crime, especially adolescent boys, might be drawn to this type of risky behavior “because they don’t see the consequences,” he said.

“Whether it’s cramming as many kids as possible into a phone booth or a VW bug, adolescents have always had poor judgment, and poor impulse control, but now, with social media, kids can put their pranks on a world stage,” Lurigio said.

Chicago Tribune reporter Karen Ann Cullotta contributed.