By: Amelia Dibert

Tussey Mountain students were left baffled by bathroom closures at the high school. Following the destruction of a sink in the middle school hall bathroom, students wondered if these two events could be correlated. Also in question was if this act of vandalism was part of the “Devious Lick” TikTok trend. Dr. Shoemake has come forward to say that the two events are unrelated and, luckily, not part of the trend.  

The vandalism that occurred in the middle school has been dealt with. Shoemake mentions that “…one of [the] sinks in [the] bathroom was hit and pulled away from the wall doing some damage to the sink and the tile behind it.” Administrators have determined who caused the damage, and they have been disciplined appropriately. Shoemake notes that despite not having video evidence, the people involved are plausible and likely engaging in horseplay. He also disclosed that if it were deliberately part of a TikTok trend, the disciplinary action would have been handled differently. If harm should come to the property or people of the school on behalf of an internet trend, those involved would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

The bathrooms located in the middle hall that were subject to closures were unrelated to the incident in the middle school bathroom, and the actual reason is correlated to an uptick in vaping. With current vaping issues, administrators have been looking into purchasing vape alarms to be installed into the bathrooms. Once the devices detect vape, cameras located outside the door immediately start to take a continuous stream of photographs, capturing who was in the bathroom at the time, and offers a starting point for subsequent investigation. At this time, the bathrooms remain closed.

Students voiced their concerns about the bathrooms being closed. Among these students is Joshua Defibaugh who said, “I’m incredibly angry [about the bathrooms] because you have to run around to find an open bathroom.” He brought up the inconvenience of having to wander the hallways in search of a place to relieve oneself, and many others share his distress.