As many people noticed the week before winter break, the boys’ bathrooms on the first and third floors at Ida B. Wells closed down, frustrating and surprising many students. Even the bathrooms on the main floor, which were still open, were under stricter supervision.
The bathrooms closed due to people vandalizing them — doing acts like pulling out soap and paper towel dispensers.
Many have stopped using the restroom due to the vandalism. ”I try to avoid the bathrooms as much as possible,” said Theo Karavias, a senior at IBW. “The doors being removed from the stalls were pretty crazy because the doors weren’t even in the bathroom [anymore] at all. Somebody smuggled them out I guess.” Principal Ayesha Conings’ account confirmed what Karavias had witnessed. She said the bathroom in the theater hall closed down because a stall door was ripped off.
The vandalism has long been an inconvenience for students, such as not being able to apply soap to their hands or dry them, because of torn-out soap and towel dispensers. It has also negatively impacted the district, forcing them to spend money from their conservative budget for constant bathroom repairs. However, the people bearing the brunt of the constant bathroom destruction were the Ida. B. Wells custodians. “Somebody has to clean it up…You’ve got completely kind people who have done nothing but clean up your messes and try to make this place as good as they can, and they are overworked, to be honest with you, and then you put that on top of it, is ridiculous. It’s horrible. It’s very disrespectful.” said Derek MacDicken, an AP Biology and Environment Science teacher.
The vandalism was happening long before IBW closed the bathrooms, but according to Coning, recently bathroom destruction had become more frequent. “Right before winter break it [the bathroom vandalism] was almost a daily occurrence…So we closed all the bathrooms except for one, so I could really pay attention to how the boys’ bathrooms are being used” said Coning. This isn’t the first time IBW has closed the school bathrooms. Back in 2022, the school closed the bathrooms down, also due to vandalism.
According to Conings’ email, which signaled the closure of bathrooms, the reason for bathroom vandalization is because of a TikTok trend. The trend started in 2021 and was called “devious licks” and it showed videos of students tearing stuff apart in school bathrooms. It spread throughout the nation, attracting mainstream media attention. TikTok has tried to crack down on “devious licks” videos, removing many of them, and preventing any results from coming up when you look up the term. However, both Coning and MacDicken also point to immaturity and apparent humor as the reason for the trashing of bathrooms. Coning says, “There’s some boys who find it humorous, who are acting immaturely, who think it’s kind of an amusing prank.”
Coning did not give a definite timeline about when the bathrooms will be reopened in the newsletter, but she says the only thing delaying the reopening of bathrooms is the repairs. “We usually get them repaired pretty quickly…within one or two days,” Coning said. However, the bathroom in the theater hallway with the stall door ripped out, will probably take longer to reopen due to the severity of the damage.
The school deployed an anonymous tip system in response to the bathroom vandalism. Coning said a few people have already been reported and disciplined, but also acknowledged many students’ reluctance to tell on others. “I know it maybe feels uncomfortable for a student to confidentially report, but it is the right thing to do,” said Coning. Coning has also linked the tip line (https://out.smore.com) in her email sent out to all students in the school.
Overall there isn’t much the school can do to prevent future damage to the restrooms. “I can’t [supervise the restrooms], I’m principal of a school. I have a lot to do…We can’t put cameras in the bathrooms. This is why it’s difficult. This is why it [the bathroom vandalism] keeps happening I think.” says Coning. It seems the only thing that will end the battle against bathroom vandalism, is for the students doing it to grow up. “If your social hang-out spot is the same place where people defecate, I think you need to reevaluate some core values,” said MacDicken. ”If doing damage is the way that you feel success… there are plenty of other options for you to feel success. There’s plenty of other options for you to feel happy and accepted.”
