What is the 'Chromebook Challenge'? Texas school district warns of dangerous TikTok trend

A dangerous TikTok trend spreading to school districts around the country has made its way into Texas schools. School officials are warning students against the challenge that risks serious injury and damage to school property.
Known as the "Chromebook Challenge" or the "Chromebook Durability Test," the trend involves children and teens inserting paper clips or other metal items into the USB port of their school-issued laptops. The act is meant to create sparks and smoke from the Chromebook and may even cause the device to catch on fire.
The issue has prompted concern in schools in several states. A 15-year-old New Jersey student has even been charged with third-degree arson and criminal mischief, after his smoking Chromebook forced the entire high school to evacuate.
School districts in New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and now Texas are alerting parents of the trend and urging them to warn their children against participating.
Hays Consolidated Independent School District (CISD) sent a warning to parents, informing them of the social media challenge responsible for the destruction of school property.
According to the Central Texas school district, a total of five Chromebooks had been ruined in under two days. The incidents spanned three schools throughout the district: a high school, a middle school and an elementary school.
"Please help us by taking a minute today to mention to your children that if they see this social media challenge that they shouldn't participate," the district's spokesperson, Tim Savoy, said in an email. "Intentional damage to school district devices will lead to an expensive equipment replacement bill for the student, and possibly worse — having to explain to a judge what they were thinking."
Students who jam school supplies into the USB ports of their school laptops are risking more than just a fire. Dr. Greg Sugalski, the Hackensack University Medical Center's acting chair of the emergency department, told Yahoo! that the melting plastic can release toxic chemicals into the air. These can irritate students' noses, eyes and lungs. Holding metal to electrical ports can also cause burns.
"It can make the computer's lithium ion battery explode and cause a large fire, and there is a risk of smoke inhalation as this trend causes the computer to smoke, burning electrical equipment and plastic," Dr. Sugalski said.
While each student can have unique motivations for participating in the "Chromebook Challenge" trend, many have speculated on several possibilities.
The most obvious reason students may be hopping on the trend is for social media engagement. Videos of such incidents are flooding TikTok, despite the platform flagging the "#chromebookchallenge" tag and replacing search results with a safety warning.
In the case of Connecticut schools forced to evacuate, students may be seeking to disrupt class or get out of doing work. Students may also be engaging in the challenge to get attention, whether from parents and teachers or from other students. They may also mistakenly see the trend as a "harmless" prank.
— North Jersey's Kyle Morel contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 'Chromebook Challenge': Texas schools warn of dangerous TikTok trend

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