It seems a new social media vandalism trend is circulating around Campbell River schools, but the local school district is trying to put a stop to it.
School District 72 (SD72) says staff has learned of a series of monthly planned TikTok challenges within local school communities, encouraging students to not only vandalize school property but assault staff.
In a letter sent out to families today (Oct. 8), Superintendent Jeremy Morrow asked parents and guardians to help the district “shut these down quickly.”
The video-sharing social platform TikTok hosts a variety of short-form user videos, anywhere from 15 seconds to three minutes long. According to Morrow, “a previous challenge encouraged students to vandalize schools and school property.”
He continued, “Additional TikTok challenges planned for the rest of the school year involve the promotion of physical violence against educators and school staff, stealing, and even physical/sexual assault.”
And while TikTok challenges may seem like an innocent prank to students, Morrow said they actually have serious school and legal consequences.
“Please speak with your child about the serious nature of these challenges and that they are not appropriate behaviour for school,” he said. “It is important for students to understand that not only the person completing the challenge, but anyone recording it could also face consequences.”
As well, if students are aware of destructive challenges taking place at school, they should inform their principal, Morrow added.
