The locked men’s bathrooms at Metea Valley is a growing problem where students can not use the bathroom because of the “devious licks” trend. The trend started due to a viral Tik Tok post of a student stealing a water fountain. These challenges are mostly happening in the men’s bathroom where students vandalize the various bathrooms. The ongoing issue has caused the bathroom doors to be locked and students not being able to use the bathroom at their convenience.  

“The bathrooms are being locked because of damage or the dean thinks otherwise the bathrooms should be locked,” assistant principal Dan Debruckyer said. “It is mostly damaged food being thrown at the wall or in the toilet. It is usually soap dispensers and toilet papers being stolen and thrown and broken in the bathroom.”

With the bathrooms being locked, students can not go and use the bathroom because of other students making messes in the bathroom.  Ever since that viral video was posted, there have been instances at Metea where students mimic the trend by stealing from the bathroom or vandalizing it so other students can not use it.

“How I feel about the locked bathrooms is annoying,” junior Mj Marcoux said. “When I go and ask my teacher to go use the bathroom I do not want to end up walking around the whole school because of other students thinking they are funny and vandalizing or damaging the bathrooms. Then by the time I find an open bathroom and use it and I get back to class I get in trouble because I am out of class for too long. All I want to do is use the bathroom and go back to class, not take half the class time trying to find an unlocked bathroom.”

The locked bathroom situation is leaving students finding themselves being late to class trying to find an unlocked bathroom. These ‘devious licks’ are escalating to the point where only one  bathroom is open. In reality, they are affecting themselves too because when they want to go use the bathroom they are not able to because they were one of the ones that destroyed the bathrooms. Who knows what other trends will go on next at Metea.