Likes for burning school toilets

For some time now, a challenge on Tiktok has been causing great concern and even greater damage to property: Pupils have been setting fires in school toilets by lighting toilet paper and paper towels on fire.

Although sanitary facilities were already being vandalised when we were at school, videos on the internet today documenting these pyromaniac acts have a completely different quality. It is precisely because the Tiktok video platform is so popular with the young target group that it makes many children want to imitate it.

More a test of courage than a challenge

Only recently, a nine-year-old was convicted of arson in the German state of Hesse, and several people were injured in Bavaria. The authorities in Switzerland have also attributed similar arson offences in Rheinfelden, Winterthur and the canton of St. Gallen to this challenge.

How can we categorise this when challenges are based on vandalism? And what will actually happen to the basic human need? But first things first.

In the so-called blackout challenge, participants tighten a noose around their neck until they lose consciousness.

Challenge means «challenge». However, the term «test of courage» is more accurate. Tests of courage are known to rely on overcoming fears. They are usually reckless, risky and sometimes even life-threatening. Classic tests of courage tend to take place in small groups.

With a challenge, on the other hand, daring actions on the Internet reach a much larger audience. This tempts many people to cross boundaries more and more drastically. In one challenge, for example, teenagers film themselves suddenly frightening peacefully grazing cows in a pasture. In another challenge, some teenagers stand or lie down on the railway tracks while the train is approaching.

In the so-called blackout challenge, participants resolutely tighten a noose around their neck until they lose consciousness. It was only in January 2023 that a 12-year-old girl from Argentina died, and before that a ten-year-old in Italy. Although there have been no fatalities in the burning toilet challenge so far, the wilful destruction of other people's property is still a serious problem.

Vandalism in schools existed long before Tiktok. Smashed windows and vandalised classrooms still pose difficult challenges for school administrators today. Nevertheless, an increase in these offences cannot be denied. In the study published in October 2022 by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW and the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland, 15 per cent of the 11,000 students surveyed admitted to having been involved in vandalism themselves. Ten years ago, the figure was 11 per cent.

The great frustration

For many adults, the verdict on the motives is already clear: boredom, exuberance, destructiveness - and the hunt for likes - are to blame. But to attribute this increase solely to social networks would be too simple and too short-sighted. In my opinion, this form of aggression is primarily based on a deep dissatisfaction.

School is not necessarily a feel-good place for many children and young people. Many external factors can cause resentment there. For example, when teachers do not relate to their pupils, when there is a bad atmosphere in the classroom or when pupils can no longer keep up with the pace of the subject matter. Arguments between pupils also cause stress, and sitting still for hours in closed rooms has never been part of children's nature. Things can build up.

However, there is also the inner stress that can cause bad feelings with the onset of puberty and its hormonal effects. The spirit of contradiction and rebelliousness awakens, the postponement of needs no longer works so well and frustration tolerance drops rapidly.

That's why teenagers freak out all the time. But: freaking out is part and parcel of puberty. This is just one explanation for the sometimes irrational behaviour of children and young people, but not a free pass for vandalism. Taken together, however, these points present us all with major educational challenges. But I fear that schools have not yet found a convincing answer.

Going to the toilet is a basic human need that schools must never restrict.

After the challenge incidents in the school toilets, some Swiss schools closed the sanitary facilities without further ado or locked the doors. In other places, pupils had to ask the secretary for the key or ask the teacher for toilet paper. Surveillance cameras were also considered in some regions.

These measures are not only a sign of great helplessness, but above all lead to pupils no longer daring to go to the toilet. As a result, they also drink less. Both are damaging to health and unacceptable. To put it bluntly: going to the toilet is a basic human need that schools must never restrict. After all, there are other ways.

Participation is key!

It would be more advisable to involve the pupils right from the start. Participation is key! Let's simply ask them: How should we deal with the terrible conditions in the school toilets and what could proven solutions look like?

I am quite sure that we can benefit enormously from young people's pragmatism and ingenuity. After all, every child wants to find a clean toilet. So why not develop a set of rules together with children and young people? Smartphones and tablets can be used to create creative posters or slogans to raise awareness and visibility of the issue. Pupils are more likely to stick to agreements that they have helped to draw up anyway.

And one more request: It is a form of appreciation towards the students if the school keeps these facilities in good condition.