Another dangerous Tiktok challenge led urgent notices from school districts and police agencies across the country and led to a 15 -year -old student of New Jersey being accused of a criminal fire.
The challenge, known as “Chromebook Challenge”, involves teenagers playing objects such as paper clips and pencil on the laptop’s USB port, causing them to bow and, in some cases, catch fire.
Prince George County public schools in Maryland said they had up to 10 reported incidents, according to NBC Washington.
“In addition to having serious safety risks, these actions can lead to expensive repairs and disciplinary consequences,” the district said in a statement. “We have seen some incidents related to the Chromebook challenge in our district.”
The district said it “informed our community about risks.”
Other school districts issued similar warnings.
“This ‘challenge’ is reckless, dangerous and has no place in our schools or houses,” said Scranton School District in Pennsylvania, in a Facebook post on Thursday. “There are reports from other districts who had first-hand experiences with this trend that led to evacuations and damage to property. Let me be clear; we are taking it very seriously and I am asking parents/guardians to work together to keep our students and our buildings safe.”
The Jefferson-Morgan School District in Pennsylvania said it had no incidents, but wanted to make parents aware of the challenge “so we can work together to avoid it.”
“We ask for your support from talking to your child about the dangers of these types of social media challenges and the importance of using school technology responsibly,” the district said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
The district said students who participate in this face disciplinary actions “as much as described in our student manual”, which may include the expulsion of the school.
In Oklahoma, Mid-Del schools said the family of any student who participates in the challenge would be responsible for the $ 274 costs to replace a damaged Chromebook. The student may also face “serious disciplinary consequences,” the district told a letter to the school community on Thursday.
Hardin Junior High in Texas wrote on Facebook: “Talk to your students about this potential safety risk and possible damage to the property. There are strong consequences for any student to try this.
Police agencies across the country also warned parents of the dangers of the challenge.
“We want to emphasize the importance of educating students about the dangers associated with these acts,” Jason Mowbray of Maryland said Jason Mowbray in a statement.
The authorities documented several incidents that led to emergency evacuations and disciplinary actions in schools across the state.
“It is crucial for parents and educators to work together to promote a culture of security and responsibility for electronic devices,” said Mowbray.
Currently, disciplinary and criminal investigations are underway in two Arizona schools.
The Bullead City Middle School was briefly evacuated on Thursday, after a Chromebook began to smoke and burn internally during class. The school district of the city of Bulhead said in a Facebook post that the Fire Department and the police “collected evidence” showing that the incident was connected to the Tiktok challenge.
The laptop was destroyed and the table on which it was sitting was strongly damaged, the district said. The classroom where it happened could not be used for several hours due to the smell of metal and burnt plastic.
Six other Chromebooks were vandalized at Fox Creek Junior High School, according to the district.
The students involved face possible disciplinary actions and criminal accusations, says the post on Facebook.
In New Jersey, a 15 -year -old student from Belleville High School was charged with third -degree criminal fire and criminal mischief after allegedly burning a chromebook on fire, NJ.com said. The incident caused an evacuation of the school.
The warnings happen days after the teenagers of Virginia said they were recording a ditch joke for a Tiktok video when a owner opened fire, killing an 18 -year -old boy.