Over the past couple weeks everyone has learned of the latest teenage craze, the Tik-Tok viral challenge by "delicious licks." Students across the nation have been blithely and openly (I mean, it's on the internet!) sharing quick videos showing them vandalizing school property.
Sinks broken. Handles and doorknobs missing. TP hijacked. You can picture it, I'm sure.
The "people in charge" are outraged, of course, and no one really blames them. Lots of school districts are sending stern emails and letters to parents, warning about potential suspensions and other punishments, not to mention reminding them that those videos are destroying property funded by tax dollars.
Completely logical. And probably not very effective.
The most effective response is likely to increase security in the building, close down all but a very few restrooms and monitor who goes in and out, etc. Oh, and to basically try to ignore the entire trend.
That's right. If we know anything about teen trends, they tend to die out as quickly as they appeared, and denying the "oxygen" needed to keep them going is a simple strategy.
If everyone would just stop talking about it (but charging the culprits for damages and issuing other penalties privately), the entire craze would quickly fade. Then the NEXT craze could begin.
I have been amused by some memes online shared by teachers, such as a Tik-Tok challenge to bring their English teacher coffee one day a week, or meeting deadlines for a class this week.
Oh, if only students were so easy to manipulate.
In the meantime, the outrage from the wise adults -- you know, the ones who suspect that microchips are being inserted in vaccinated folks to, um, control their thoughts? -- will likely end up as overkill and the wise adults won't even realize that the kids have moved on to the next thing.
But at least we had something besides politics to moan about... for a few minutes.
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