A large number of clocks have disappeared from the High School classrooms in the past few weeks as stealing school property has become a trend among students.

Clocks have disappeared from at least 13 high school classrooms, and the main office. HS Vice Principal Paul Navarra has addressed the problem and informed teachers about the situation advising them to take preventative measures. According to Navarra, students will get consequences when they are identified. However, if the clocks are returned “upon their own volition”, then the case will be considered closed and no further disciplinary will be taken.

“I think the larger issue is school property, and we want all of our students to be appreciative of such a beautiful campus we have and all the wonderful things we have in school that not all schools in Colombia have,” Navarra said.

Clocks began disappearing around January 21 when Norberto Villa, 10th Grade AP Spanish Teacher, first reported his clock missing. Villa was having lunch that day and when he came back for his next class the clock was missing.

“I would think the students did this as a dirty trick. In the past, that would be really serious, when the teachers didn’t have cell phones; today, everyone has a clock in their phone, so clocks lost their functionality for everyone, except for me,” Villa said.

Several teachers did not notice right away since many were broken and most of the staff now uses other resources such as their cell phones and computers. Other teachers were not in school when their clocks disappeared.  

“I had COVID, and when I came back to school I didn’t see it, though I did find another classroom’s clock hidden. I use my clock, but if not, I do have other alternatives, yet I ask myself, ‘is it just a trend or is there a deeper meaning to it?’ Karol Marín, 10th Grade Social Sciences Teacher, said.

Some believe the thefts have their origins in a TikTok trend, called the “devious lick” while others believe it is a way to draw attention.  Others simply believe students do it because they find it funny.

“In my opinion, it’s a way to call attention. The problem is not what they do itself, but what’s behind it, and I think that they lack something and this is their way of compensating for it,” Marín said.

Many students were not aware of the disappearance of the clocks since it is more common to use their cell phones or other devices to tell time. If these are not available, they can always ask their teacher.

“I think that in the present we don’t really need the clocks because there are always other resources, but I think it’s really disrespectful, not just because of the fact that they stole school property, but it’s the meaning of what they do and why they do it,” Ambar Álvarez, Grade 10, said.

In other cases, the clocks have disappeared and returned, as in the case of Ashleigh Dietrich’s 9th Grade Algebra 1 classroom. This last happened in the second quarter, but the teacher did not seem bothered by the event.

“As long as they return my stuff to me, I don’t usually make it a big problem. When they go into my classroom, I feel like it’s a lot more laid back and they enjoy it more, and I don’t want that to change that by making a whole bunch of rules or getting them in trouble for insignificant things,” Dietrich said.