BILLINGS — A viral trend has taken over the popular app TikTok, where students are filming themselves urinating in public.
It's a trend that has increased in popularity, with videos being viewed tens of thousands of times.
Watch this video to hear from students at MSUB:
Videos started being made nationwide, but now the trend has surged in Montana. The University of Montana, Montana State and Montana State University Billings have all appeared on different TikTok accounts.
"I was shocked," said MSUB freshman Cami Hearn on Thursday. "I didn't expect that to happen like here."
Hearn said the videos spread quickly and that she's seen them on college campuses all over the country, with the first video she recalls coming out of Penn State.
"I've seen it on TikTok," Hearn said. "My friends have been showing it to me."
Another student, sophomore Landon Freeman, said he was equally surprised finding the video taken at MSUB after seeing similar videos elsewhere.
"They've shown up on Instagram," Freeman said. "I've been shown the video of the, you know, it's like the night time, and they're at the entrance peeing."
Freeman said the video is an example of how social media affects students these days.
"People will see something and say like 'Oh, that's pretty funny. I want to do that now,'" Freeman said. "And you're kind of like, 'Eh, should you?'"
Billings Police Lt. Samantha Puckett said the answer should be a resounding no, warning of legal consequences for such actions.
"They may think they're funny, but they're committing crimes," Puckett said. "So, they're going to be held accountable if we can identify them."
Puckett said the charges for this current trend could be heavy.
"They can be charged with indecent exposure and potentially even face where they have to register as a sex offender," Puckett said.
Puckett added that it's part of a growing trend, where these social media trends lead to legal implications. In August, a group of kids were caught doing the "Kool-Aid Challenge" and running through fences, damaging one in Billings.
"Kids like to get the views and basically try to be the best on social media," Puckett said.
It's that desire to be viral that Puckett said could be dangerous. Freeman said he hears her concerns.
"You could have children that see that and then it becomes into even a bigger crime," Freeman said.
Hearn added that no trend is funny enough to face serious consequences.
"I think it's funny to a point," Hearn said. "Whenever it starts like becoming a vandalism thing, that's too far."
