Southern California school districts are warning parents about new Tiktok challenges that urge students to damage the school’s published chrome books.
A virus trend called the “Chromebook Challenge” intentionally tampers with inserting objects such as charging ports, batteries, and even pencil leads into device ports and electrical outlets.
“It’s extremely dangerous to participate in this challenge. It can overheat, light a chrome book, or in some cases explode, pose a serious risk of injury or property damage.”
A 13-year-old student from Long Beach was arrested last week for damaging a school-issued Chromebook by inserting a foreign object into a battery charging port, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The Long Beach Unified School District said it wasn’t the first time a student has been disciplined in connection with a social media assignment, but it didn’t say what else happened.
Oxnard school officials urged students to communicate to trustworthy adults whether they would see or hear people taking part in the challenge, and asked students to talk to them about the importance of not engaging in family and behavior.
The school district shared the following “need to know” information:
Damage to your Chromebook can cause suspension. Families and students are liable for intentional damages (this is not covered by insurance). This behavior violates the OSD acceptable usage policy. There is a real risk of a fire and could involve law enforcement.
Emails and text messages from several other Southern California school districts have been sent to families in the hopes of stopping the costly trend.
