Southern California school districts are warning parents about a new TikTok challenge urging students to damage their school-issued Chromebooks.
The viral trend dubbed the “Chromebook Challenge” encourages intentionally tampering with charging ports, batteries or even inserting objects like pencil lead into the device ports or electrical outlets.
“Participating in this challenge is extremely hazardous. It can cause Chromebooks to overheat, catch fire, or, in some cases, explode, posing serious risks of injury and property damage,” the Oxnard School District stated in a post on Instagram Monday evening.
A 13-year-old student in Long Beach was arrested for damaging a school-issued Chromebook by inserting a foreign object into a battery charging port last week, the Los Angeles Times reported
The Long Beach Unified School District told the Times it wasn’t the first time a student was disciplined in connection with the social media challenge, but did not say how many other times it had occurred.
Oxnard school officials urged students to tell a trusted adult if they see or hear about anyone participating in the challenge and asked families to speak with students about the importance of not engaging in the behavior.
The School District shared the following “need to know” information:
- Damaging a Chromebook can result in suspension.
- Families and students will be held responsible for intentional damage (this is not covered by insurance).
- This behavior violates the OSD Acceptable Use Policy.
- There’s a real risk of fire and the possibility of law enforcement becoming involved.
Email and text messages from several other school districts across Southern California have been sent to families in hopes of stopping the costly trend.
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