# "School vandalism challenge" hits TikTok **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 16, 2021, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781 "2021-09-16T22:04:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/1 "2021-09-16T22:04:49Z")
Here’s the most recent story I could find about it. However, it’s apparently going on all over the place. > **[TikTok school vandalism viral challenge hits Connecticut](https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-ct-tik-tok-school-vandalism-20210916-o22mhyjclfagfk26ofnxvqh73a-story.html)** > > A nationwide trend in which students film school vandalism and theft and post the videos to a popular social media platform has been reported in Connecticut schools. Yeah, it’s a really good idea to commit a crime and post it on social media. I understand the teenage brain, having had one myself, but folks, what did Jay Leno always hate more than dressing up animals? You guessed it, stupid criminals. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/2 "2021-09-16T22:26:37Z")
One of the effects of social media, I’ve found, is that almost anything can be justified under the name “challenge.” Or call it a “hack.” There was a video of people trespassing in all kinds of “No Trespassing Allowed” places but they called it “place hacking.” ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/3 "2021-09-16T22:43:17Z")
My wife’s middle school just shut the bathrooms on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors because of this. They all have to use the first floor bathrooms where they can be monitored. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/4 "2021-09-16T23:14:49Z")
In before… ‘It’s just property!’ ‘It’s insured, isn’t it?’ ‘All teachers are bastards and this is a blow against the bastions of institutionalized white supremacy!’ ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/5 "2021-09-16T23:22:38Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > …what did Jay Leno always hate more than dressing up animals? You guessed it, stupid criminals. Nevermind, I got that one wrong. I thought the answer was genuine humor. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/6 "2021-09-16T23:29:17Z")
Arizona has a whole school system full of trashed school bathrooms. Today it seems the new (NEW! IMPROVED!) challenge is calling in bomb threats. Two schools in Mesa, one today, one yesterday, had bomb threats called in, creating a lot of disruption. (You can’t stand outside all day in 105 degree heat, so the kids get bussed to other schools. Which makes parents whine.) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/7 "2021-09-16T23:30:47Z")
How blissful life must be when you don’t even feel the need to be coherent…. Ahhhh; sometimes I almost envy you, **octopus**. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/8 "2021-09-16T23:54:30Z")
Good God, just fuck social media already. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/9 "2021-09-16T23:56:21Z")
For @Just_Asking_Questions, it _may_ also be the bane of returning to in-person school life: exams. My wife (who teaches part time at the local community college) had her first exam yesterday. Apparently, earlier in the day the old ‘pull the fire alarm to cancel the test’ gag was pulled. Which is bad enough - but I could certainly see someone calling in a bomb threat for the same (stupid) reason. Of course, it could also be an immensely stupid challenge as well, why not ruin your lives with a major criminal offense while simultaneously missing out on that physics test you were too busy to study for _WHILE_ owning the 'dults and showing your skillz by posting it all online! ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/10 "2021-09-17T00:01:05Z")
Satirizing the left does take on an almost absurd quality. It’s like when you read it it’s preposterous but then you read the news and watch the videos and you find that the absurdity of the satire is completely overshadowed by real life. What I find absurd is demanding better behavior from children than from adults. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/11 "2021-09-17T00:07:38Z")
Pro tip, @octopus: Satire is supposed to resemble the thing it’s mocking. Back to the OP, my school got hit by this, too. And of course the perpetrators got caught. It’s almost insulting, how stupid it is. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/12 "2021-09-17T00:08:53Z")
Is this an _actual_ thing, or another Tide Pods/butt-chugging/vodka tampons thing, where a very SMALL outbreak is treated as though the world is coming to an end? ETA: at least two dopers personally affected? We aren’t a huge community, so it must be something. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/13 "2021-09-17T00:15:01Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > …vodka tampons… Tell me more. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/14 "2021-09-17T00:16:38Z")
My kids’ school has had a lot of vandalism as well due to this challenge. Mostly the bathrooms. ---
**Author:** ![Redcanoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b487fb/32.png) [@Redcanoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redcanoe)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/15 "2021-09-17T00:25:03Z")
My wife teaches middle school and they’ve been hit as well. Admin is working off of carts in the halls outside of bathrooms . The remaining soap and towel dispensers have been taken down to prevent more damage. One high school had the bathrooms covered in red paint. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/16 "2021-09-17T00:33:26Z")
Could add a whole new meaning to a Bloody Mary. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/17 "2021-09-17T01:08:22Z")
This just showed up on my local news feed via Facebook, so they’re doing it here, too. That, on top of THIS happening last weekend. Oh, sure, nobody was “injured”, but tell that to the girls who ran several blocks in bare feet, and all the kids who really did think a shooter was in the building? The local news media is trying to bury it, and the parents in particular are not letting them do so. This, BTW, is the wealthiest area in my region. > **[Investigation continues into false rumor of gunfire at Bettendorf High School...](https://www.kwqc.com/2021/09/14/investigation-continues-into-false-rumor-gunfire-bettendorf-high-school-dance/)** > > Bettendorf Police Chief Keith Kimball said students and staff at no time were in any immediate danger. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/18 "2021-09-17T01:14:43Z")
Sun Tzu famously said ‘Kill one to terrify a thousand.’ Obviously we cant kill anyone but the authorities should arrest the person/persons who did this and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. No plea bargaining. That will teach copycats that pranks can have consequences. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/19 "2021-09-17T01:24:12Z")
This has been endemic in my region (and a few other I know of) in recent years. > **[Quad City car theft numbers higher than last year](https://www.kwqc.com/2021/07/22/quad-city-car-theft-numbers-higher-than-last-year/)** > > Despite the effort that the media and multiple departments around the Quad Cities have put into raising awareness over locking your car, thefts continue to be on the rise. I heard recently that it became a “thing” in the Kansas City area; I sure hope this didn’t give anyone any ideas. [https://www.kctv5.com/car-thefts-by-kids-as-young-as-12-on-the-rise-police-say/article\_61f52656-3328-51d6-a8b4-693a8b97a91d.html](https://www.kctv5.com/car-thefts-by-kids-as-young-as-12-on-the-rise-police-say/article_61f52656-3328-51d6-a8b4-693a8b97a91d.html) ---
**Author:** ![TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thegunismightierthanthepen/32/2981_2.png) [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheGunIsMightierThanThePen)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781/20 "2021-09-17T03:00:30Z")
If this remains a persistent problem, perhaps the US government or state governments can put pressure on TikTok to refuse hosting such videos, thereby removing the incentive of viral attention for the students, saddling them with the consequences but none of the glory. Don’t know if that will run afoul of censorship laws though. I am no lawyer, but I read that Facebook is doing something similar by removing posts and accounts that spread anti-vax misinformation, so maybe there’s some wiggle room for this policy. > [@asahi](#): > > Good God, just fuck social media already. Seconded. Sadly, I feel it’s already too tightly ingrained in society, and campaigns to disentangle us from it will fail just like Prohibition. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-vandalism-challenge-hits-tiktok/950781.md?page=2)