On the other hand, it has its drawbacks too. The desire to connect is why today, “Gen Z-ers are the most vocal generation when it comes to environmental preservation and protection,” Pavkovic says. “Taking part in these trends and challenges enables people to band together and feel a sense of unity and connectedness, the kind we haven’t felt ‘in real life’ for many, many months.” “The definitive feature of Tik Tok is its global trends, which explains why the isolation (and loneliness) that the Covid-19 pandemic brought us helped the platform become so incredibly popular,” she explains. The pull to take part for young kids isn’t much different from the incentives for their older peers, Pavkovic says. The video platform took to Twitter in response, noting its working with law enforcement to “look into warnings about potential violence at schools even though we have not found evidence of such threats originating or spreading via TikTok.”Įarlier this year, schools across the country were subject to vandals ripping soap dispensers off walls and walking off with paper towel dispensers in the name of the Devious Licks challenge. Middle schoolers have landed in hot water for vandalizing in the name of Devious Licks, and the” slap a teacher” challenge has already seen elementary schoolers disciplined for taking part. How serious are these TikTok challenges? Take it from the schools from Michigan to Washington that have closed for days due to shooting threats on TikTok. Kids create the videos in hopes of growing their followings and landing on the coveted TikTok For You Page, where they’re seen by millions of other TikTokers. The goal? To take part in the challenge by posting a video of yourself doing the task at hand, be it vandalizing school property or hurting a teacher. TikTok Challenges & Schoolsīut then there are the challenges being issued, which lead kids down inappropriate paths at school. In other words, there’s a lot for kids to love.

“What you primarily see on Tik Tok are humorous videos that involve things like singing, dancing, baking, playing with pets, raccoons eating Cheetos and the like,” Pavkovic says. Not on TikTok yourself? The good news: Watching TikTok (or even creating videos) isn’t inherently bad. Sometimes, they will sneak their phones in the bathroom and create Tik Tok with their friends!” “The students that are creating Tik Tok any time they get a chance. “Most of all my students are on social media, especially Tik Tok,” says Tiffaney Whyte, a fifth-grade special education teacher in Georgia. Others have accounts - and they’re posting a lot. Some are just viewing the videos without an account - you don’t need to create one to view content on TikTok. “Tik Tok has quickly climbed the social media popularity ladder and is now quickly catching up with YouTube in terms of both the number of its younger users and, more importantly, the time they spend on the platform,” Pavkovic says.

Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat have similar age limitations.īut Teodora Pavkovic, digital wellness expert and psychologist at cyber content-filtering company Linewize, warns that younger kids are hearing about the platform everywhere they turn, be it from older siblings, kids on the school bus, or on TV. After all, the social media platform is supposed to be for teenagers … right? Technically TikTok limits sign-ups to kids 13 and up to meet the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA), a federal regulation that’s designed to protect kids online. When you’re teaching at an elementary or middle school, TikTok may not be at the top of your mind. What Do Teachers of Young Kids Need to Know About TikTok?

How’s it happening, and what can teachers do about it? We talked to some experts about the TikTok challenges every teacher should know about and how to stay on your toes. Still, there’s no question TikTok is something teachers can’t ignore. Not every challenge is as dire - or dangerous - as threats to enact mass violence on a school campus. An increasing number of challenges from the video-sharing social platform have cropped up this school year, designed to be done on school property, sometimes with dangerous consequences.įrom Devious Licks – a challenge in which kids steal something from school to show off in a TikTok video - to school shooting threats, TikTok challenges have completely invaded schools, and that includes elementary and middle campuses too. Threats against schools across the country have teachers, parents, and entire communities on edge - and TikTok is right at the center of it.

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