Jill's Journal: Tik Tok ... that’s dumb

“Vandalism reported in 300 block of S. Splitrock Blvd., juvenile cited.”

I typed this same entry from the Brandon Police Report on three separate days for this week’s paper. To be honest, I typed it and didn’t think much of it. That was, until I learned of a new craze that has reared its “ugly head” in our local middle andhigh schools.

Apparently, the social networking platform has kids of all ages documenting how “cool” it is to destroy something on school property, film it and of then course, share it. 

Sounds like a dumb idea to me.

The end reward, if found out, surely isn’t going to be a good reward.

For those that aren’t up on this social media platform, Tik Tok is a video-sharing focused social networking platform used to make a variety of short-form videos, from genres like dance, comedy and education, that have a duration from 15 seconds to 3 minutes.

For the kiddos that may be plotting their first – or possibly next – Tik Tok video of them destroying a soap dispenser or a toilet paper holder in the school restroom, perhaps you should think again. That 15 seconds of “fun” could cost you more than what you may have bargained for, not to mention raise the blood pressure of your parents.

I was a kid once, too. And I did my fair share of dumb stuff. So, I get that the pressure of following the crowd. But destroying public property, which is funded by our tax dollars just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. Or your parents’ wallets.

I didn’t grow up in an era where everything in life was documented via social media avenues. The meals we ate or the places we ventured to were captured on film. Yep, that’s right, cameras actually required film back in the day and then we had to wait for the film to not only be developed, but we had to first take 12 or 24 or 36 pictures before sending it off or taking it to the drugstore for actual photos. And rarely, were their do-overs. Eyes were often closed. Heads were cut off. And if you had chocolate on your face, you were going to see chocolate on your face in the photo.

Perhaps that waiting made us a more patient generation.

So, here’s my simple piece of advice. Think twice before following the crowd. A bad decision today could possibly backfire in the days to come. Oh, that, and destroying or stealing someone else’s property, then documenting it on a social media platform such as Tik Tok isn’t all that cool. In fact, it’s dumb.