Stop destroying our school. Please. Recently, more and more bathrooms are being closed ‘due to vandalism’ again. The ‘devious lick’ TikTok trend is challenging students to graffiti stairwells and steal school property. 

Our school is meant to be a learning environment, and despite the clout and attention the people performing these acts are hoping to receive, all they are doing is damaging this environment.

Bathrooms are closing. Stairways need painting over. We, as a student body, are supposed to be of an age where we become more mature as young adults. 

Instead, these childish acts diminish the student body’s reputation in the eyes of the staff and lessen our respect and trust in each other, as these vandals infiltrate our ranks with cans of spray paint and malicious intent.

Our school is already in debt. It’s the reason for the budget cuts planned for next year. Adding one new soap dispenser is a regular expense, but when a trend causes bathroom supplies to be  stolen regularly enough that there is likely at least one bathroom closed at all times, that’s just not okay. 

The amount of money that is spent repairing damaged bathrooms or painting over graffiti potty humor directly impacts next year’s budget cuts. 

What is expected to be 18 or 19 million dollars in budget cuts could be thousands of dollars more, because someone wanted to giggle to themselves for a minute. 

As students who use and benefit from this school’s facilities, we must think about our actions before we put them into reality.

The members of the Tempest’s staff editorial board believe we speak for the student body when we ask you: please respect this building which we use to learn. We all benefit from Shorewood’s facilities, so a select few students shouldn’t ruin them for everyone.