Dealing with ‘Devious Licks’

Recently, at our school, the boy’s bathrooms have been visibly defaced. When asked, our assistant principal Mr. Sarmiento, how he feels about this situation, he responds in a thwarted manner; “Oh I see, I like that topic, that topic is so cute“. He believes that these ruinous actions are immature, childish, and unnecessary. He also states, “It's a form of vandalism because they are deliberately destroying property. “ (Roberto Sarmiento, Assistant Principal).

There has been full toilet paper rolls flushed down the toilet, numerous rolls of paper on the floor, urine on the floor, full bottles of soap spilled, ketchup smeared on the handles, and many more innumerable damages being done. “...With this caliber of students we have, you would think that we are bigger than that, more intelligent than that and that we have more sense… Would you do this at home? Why would you do this here?” (Marilyn Hennessy, Secretary).

The administration at Mast@FIU is shocked and disappointed with these vandals for the school is brand new and that it is happening so early in the school year.

Students also feel very negatively about these occurrences. For the most part, opinions on this subject resemble that of junior Joyce Vasquez, “honestly, it's very immature" and junior Emily Tran, “ I think it is stupid because after they’re done they need to use the bathroom.”

“I really do think it's very unfair to the rest of us… we DO need to use it. We just need to use the bathroom, it's just gotten really bad” (Mario Duque, 10th grade). In essence, their feelings are similar to those of the staff and administration.

These acts are rumored to be inspired by the TikTok trend where students damage, vandalize or steal things at their school, called a “devious lick”. The first word of this was in the second to last week of September and has kept on occurring since then.

Assistant principal, Mr. Sarmiento, and staff have wanted whoever was doing these “devious licks” to completely stop and turn themselves in. With this, he has asked that teachers become more strict with bathroom privileges, keep bathroom logs, and speak to students seriously. Because of this, bathrooms on the first floor have been occasionally locked, announcements over the P.A. system have interrupted classes, and has caused teachers to second-guess allowing students to use the restroom during class time.

The administrative staff has wanted to advocate the topic for students to spread the word and to let those who are responsible understand the graveness of their actions. Mr. Sarmiento explains that this has not had full success, but has helped them get some leads from people that have remained anonymous. This has also led to unnecessary stress on teaching staff and extra work to janitorial staff, especially our janitor Therry De Guzman.

The staff have come up with several solutions, but have not enforced them, for they include strict punishment. Mr. Sarmiento wants to hold back from them because “...they aren't fair. To who? To you guys, who are not doing this...”(Roberto Sarmiento, Assistant Principal). The most popular and effective method to control these acts is that the bathrooms stay locked throughout the school day. Again, this will be the last resort solution, but in the teacher’s, Ms. Hennessy’s, and Mr. Sarmiento's point of view, they see this happening in the near future. All we can hope for is that these disruptive actions come to an end so that the administration can figure out who is behind this.