Dangerous social media craze encourages kids to set their laptops on fire — causing chaos in schools

Forget harmless pranks — TikTok’s latest trend has students mounting their Chromebooks ablaze, sparking schoolhouse evacuations and information warnings crossed nan country.

Known arsenic nan #ChromebookChallenge, nan vulnerable stunt encourages kids to jam metallic objects, for illustration insubstantial clips and pushpins, into nan charging ports of their laptops, causing electrical short circuits that tin ignite fires.

Connecticut is crushed zero for nan reckless trend, pinch Newington High School evacuated past week aft a student’s laptop started spewing toxic smoke. 

“The room astatine nan clip of nan occurrence was filling pinch smoke,” Newington occurrence marshal DJ Zordon said, arsenic reported by NBC Connecticut. 

“The batteries that are fundamentally catching connected fire, erstwhile they burn, they’re producing this toxic smoke.”

The unsettling arena isn’t conscionable confined to nan Nutmeg State.

Schools crossed California, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Washington person issued warnings astir nan trend, which sees students inserting mechanical pencil lead, aluminum foil, and different conductive items into Chromebook ports.

“It’s much than conscionable a trend,” Zordon continued.

“It causes a batch of disruption. The schoolhouse has to beryllium evacuated, firefighters respond to nan firehouse and subsequently to nan scene, it takes resources from immoderate different emergencies that mightiness beryllium happening astatine that time.”

On TikTok, nan inclination goes by different names for illustration #ChromebookDurabilityTest and #FStudent, pinch immoderate videos racking up thousands of views successful specified hours. 

Clips show kids cackling arsenic they jam springs and pins into their laptops, waiting for fume to billow retired — each for a fewer moments of viral fame and comments like, “anything but work,” mocking that they’d alternatively torch their Chromebooks than do schoolwork.

And nan consequences are mounting, arsenic NBC Connecticut noted.

In Southington, Connecticut, students astatine Southington High School were evacuated connected May 7 aft different Chromebook fire, occurrence officials said. 

Similar incidents person been reported successful Cromwell, Derby, and Newington, Connecticut, arsenic good arsenic East Fishkill, New York, prompting stern warnings from authorities occurrence officials.

But nan chaos isn’t conscionable about a fewer kids seeking attention.

Videos of nan inclination person flooded TikTok’s For You page, and schoolhouse officials are struggling to support up.

According to TikTok, 99.7% of vulnerable contented flagged from October to December past twelvemonth was removed proactively, but nan level still faces disapproval for really quickly specified trends spread.

TikTok allows users to study vulnerable contented done its “Dangerous activities and challenges” category, but that hasn’t stopped nan spread. 

And for schoolhouse districts, nan fallout is costly — from imaginable fines for damaged instrumentality to missed people clip owed to evacuations.

For now, experts are urging parents to talk to their kids astir nan risks — and schools to enforce strict punishments for those caught participating. 

Police successful Providence, Rhode Island, warned WJAR that students torching their Chromebooks for TikTok clout could beryllium deed pinch schoolhouse punishments — and possibly moreover criminal charges.

But pinch nan TikTok inclination still spreading for illustration wildfire, let’s dream it’s not excessively precocious to put this blaze out.