Slap The Staff TikTok Challenge May Be Going Around Maine East

Slap The Staff TikTok Challenge May Be Going Around Maine East - Principal's Message:

Dear Maine East Students and Families,
It's hard to believe that it’s already the first day of October! It continues to be great to see our students back in the building and at school activities and events. Since the start of school, we have been listening to our students' voices through Advisory and, as a result, in the next few days and weeks will be implementing some revised procedures as a response to what they’ve told us. Additionally, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in upstander/responsible decision making as we see students (and adults) settle into daily routines.
As you may have heard, schools around the country - including Maine East - have experienced an increase in vandalism seemingly connected to a TikTok trend known as “devious licks.” We had a few incidents at East, but for many reasons I think most students recognize how demoralizing and harmful this trend is. It was disturbing to think that our own students would damage their own school, and my faith in our student body was affirmed when many of them denounced the trend and it largely stopped.
Unfortunately, the focus on TikTok does not seem to be going away as there are plans for a new challenge each month as we understand it. The October challenge is rumored to be to "smack a staff member on the backside." I find it unimaginable that any student at Maine East would actually slap a staff member for a joke - or even pretend to do so. Students know how difficult this year is already for all of us and they understand that our staff members are human beings who care for them. I also believe students know that we are working with them to have the great year at school that we waited so long to have.
I want to be very clear on the following point: If any student strikes or smacks a staff member on any part of their body, we would pursue assault charges to the fullest extent of the law along with disciplinary action including, and up to, expulsion. This will not be seen as a joke or a prank - nor would any sort of staged or “pretend” assault actions. It would be devastating for our entire school community to watch students face lasting consequences for something they may have intended as an impulsive and misguided joke.
Students, I urge you to think about what kind of school environment you want to help create and be a part of each day. All of the adults in the building work very hard each day to provide you with opportunities to learn, to prepare you for your future, and to create a safe learning environment. Their goal is to treat you with respect and we expect you will treat them (and each other) with respect.
Parents/Caregivers, please encourage your students to keep standing up for what is right - literally to be upstanders. Please encourage them to avoid even looking at videos that glorify the kinds of things that these challenges promote--and certainly not to “like” them. Please reach out to us if you have any information that our staff or our school building are at risk of harm (You can utilize Anonymous Alerts located on the Maine East website at https://east.maine207.org/).

Sincerely,
Dr. Mike Pressler, Principal