Recent Tik Tok trends have schools throughout the Cedar Rapids Community School District (CRCSD) on high alert.
The trend has students going to schools around the country, calling themselves “piss crew” The videos depict buildings being urinated on to the song, “Tonight is the Night” by Oli808. This trend has made its way to Cedar Rapids, reaching Kennedy High School. In a video posted on Sept. 7, the “local” crew urinated on the south entrance of the school.
“It seems pretty dumb, I don’t see the point in it, but I guess it’s just one of those things that people catch on to that is completely pointless. But they think it is the funniest thing in the world,” Japanese teacher Dan Carolin said.
Whether the liquid in the video is water or actual urine, it can be convicted as public urination or even a case of indecent exposure. The fine for public urination is around $50, while indecent exposure varies. Indecent exposure is a serious misdemeanor in Iowa; fines range from $315 to $1,875.
“I think that if they are actually urinating on the sign that is destruction of property and they could get fined for it,” Carolin said. “I don’t think that I should be thrown in jail for it, but there should be some penalty for it. But if they are just throwing water on it and pretending it’s urine, then no.”
The ‘devious lick’ fad from 2021 tried this vandalism trend cool. The ‘devious lick’ influenced students to steal things from their schools, often from bathrooms and local businesses, posting the video under the hashtag #deviouslick. It started with smaller things like soap dispensers, progressing into larger items such as stall doors and urinals. “Devious Licks” led to widespread vandalism all over the country.
“I think that the videos are kind of weird, but I do think that they are funny,” Freshman Ellie Vogt said. “I think that this is a harmless prank. It’s fine, nothing bad is happening and nothing is getting damaged.”
While these trends are popular among teens and young adults, they do not account for the repercussions. Tik Tok has now banned the hashtag and blocked any searches regarding the ‘devious lick’ due to the extreme vandalism that schools endured.
As time goes on, it seems these questionable trends are the ones that tend to go viral.
“As long as they’re not actually urinating on the signs it’s a harmless prank,” Carolin said. “If they are actually urinating on the signs it’s gross. Of course no one is going to die from this, it’s just indecent exposure and unsanitary.”
Comment sections under the “pisser” videos show support and discontent.
“Luckily I graduated from ts last year,” TikTok commenter, theinfamoussd.3 said.
Others are commenting with memes under the post. Commenters are encouraging the behavior by suggesting other schools for the creator to target.
“I mean to be honest I do think it is dumb. But it’s not like people my age when we were in high school were above this,” Carolin said. “If we had phones and everything at the time I could definitely see people at my high school doing this. We weren’t that intelligent back then either. Don’t let anyone tell you anything different.”
Generational differences in humor become apparent by teachers and parents shaking their heads at these videos. The hobbies and traditions from older generations left drinking in corn fields and giving their peers ‘swirlies’ in the toilet. It’s time to become aware of the shift in humor and allow for the newer generation to find their own sense of humor.
Jacob • Oct 9, 2025 at 12:19 pm
woooo go Lucy!