What is the 'Chromebook Challenge'? Texas school district warns of dangerous TikTok trend
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
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
27 minutes ago
- New York Post
Pregnant Massachusetts teen Kylee Monteiro missing after argument with boyfriend
An 18-year-old recent Massachusetts high school graduate, who is about three months pregnant, disappeared after an argument with her boyfriend. Kylee Monteiro, 18, was last seen on Aug. 7 near County Street in Rehoboth — about 50 miles from Boston, according to The Rehoboth Police Department. Monteiro's family said they last heard from her through a text message on the day she disappeared, and they feared for her safety, WCVB 5 reported. 4 Kylee Monteiro was last seen on Aug. 7. Faith Monteiro / Facebook 'The last known time when we heard her voice was Wednesday night,' Monteiro's sister, Faith, told the outlet. A friend of Monteiro's also expressed concern for her well-being, saying her last contact felt unsettling. 'She was like 'I don't feel safe right now something's not right.' I tried talking with her after that, and she just stopped responding to me after that,' the friend, who was not identified, told WCVB 5. 'I just want her to know that like, we miss you, and we're not going to stop trying to find you.' Monteiro is 6'0, with light brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen in a red 'Get Over it' T-shirt, ripped blue jeans, and carrying a white bag. Her disappearance comes two months after she graduated from Attleboro High School. 4 The teen is 11 weeks pregnant, her family said. Kylee Monteiro / Facebook 4 Monteiro's family said they last heard from her through a text message on the day she disappeared, and they feared for her safety. Faith Monteiro / Facebook The Rehoboth Police Department launched an extensive search for the teen, using K9s, helicopters, drones, ATVs, and divers in nearby bodies of water, WJAR reported. Faith said police are thoroughly investigating her sister's disappearance. Monteiro's other sister, Catherine, said she is usually very active on social media, 'especially on TikTok and Snapchat,' but since vanishing, 'absolutely nothing' has appeared on her accounts. 4 The Rehoboth Police Department launched an extensive search for the teen. WCVB 'The smallest detail is important and if there are hundreds of people going through the woods, they might not find it,' Catherine pleaded with the public. 'There's so many scenarios that have gone through all of our heads, so many theories that everybody has, it's all skepticism at this point. We don't know what happened to her but we're not giving up hope,' Faith said.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
TikTok Adds AI Avatar Stickers, Expanding its AI Toolset
This story was originally published on Social Media Today. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Social Media Today newsletter. TikTok's added a new AI-generated sticker option, which enables you to combine your avatar with an emoji to come up with unique combinations. As you can see in this example, posted by Jonah Manzano, the new option enables you to combine your avatar, which you can also create in the app, with a selection of emojis. You can then use that combined sticker in the app: Which is an interesting application within TikTok's broader integration of AI tools, and with parent company ByteDance investing billions into AI development, you can bet that more and more AI options will be coming to the app very soon. As they are in all apps, but TikTok's plans on this front are less known, because it's primarily focused on China, and building AI tools for the local version of the app, called Douyin. But if you ever want to get an idea of where TikTok is headed, you can look to Douyin. The app reportedly has over 766 million active users, and has become a key social and entertainment platform among Chinese users. And in terms of AI features, that TikTok doesn't have (at least not to the same degree) Douyin has the following: The app composer now includes various AI editing tools, including creative effects, image generation, and more. It also has a text-to-video tool, which enables the creation of short clips in-stream (it also has a separate app called 'Jimeng' for this) There are also various AI assistants in the app, with the latest addition being a chatbot that connects to ByteDance's ChatGPT-like Doubao There's also a Yelp-like AI assistant that recommends restaurants and provides food reviews These are some of the AI elements that are not available on TikTok as yet, which shines a light on the options that could be coming to TikTok soon, building out its AI capacity. In addition, Douyin's also developing improved live-stream avatars which are designed to mimic creators' personalities and habits. TikTok has a form of AI avatars already, but this new wave of AI bots will be more customized and aligned to each creator, enabling influencers to stream to their audience 24/7, Douyin says. At the same time, Douyin is also much more focused on shopping, and has become a leading player in Chinese eCommerce. It's also expanded into food delivery, which is another area that TikTok may look to as it seeks to build out its own shopping elements. On that front, Douyin recently began testing 'Douyin Hourly Delivery,' which will use location services to ensure rapid deliveries to consumers. So, again, this gives you some idea of the AI integrations that are likely coming to TikTok, and the other avenues that it could take to drive more AI usage, while also building out its existing functionality. So on a broader scale, AI-generated emoji stickers are only a small thing, but they add another tool to the platform's expanding AI capacity, which is set to become even more significant over time. Which also means more AI slop, but that's probably inevitable either way. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
New York Post
6 hours ago
- New York Post
Drunk Breeze Airways passenger yells racial slurs, breaks free from restraints twice before he's manhandled by fellow flyer
A drunk Breeze Airways passenger allegedly spewed racial slurs towards staff, broke out of his restraints twice and aggressively waved a skateboard as he forced an emergency landing on board an LA-bound flight. David Leroy Carter, a 46-year-old Los Angeles resident, was taken into custody by Colorado police on Wednesday afternoon after he 'became agitated' four hours into his flight out of Norfolk, Virginia, according to NBC Los Angeles. The Grand Junction Police Department said that airline staff had placed the 'intoxicated' passenger in restraints twice during the flight, but 'he managed to break free both times' during his profanity-laced tirade around 11:15 a.m. Advertisement 4 An intoxicated passenger aboard an LA-bound Breeze flight, who police said was yelling racist slurs at staff and waving a skateboard around, was arrested after the flight was diverted to Grand Junction. Liz Reilly Breeze flight MX704 was then diverted to Grand Junction Airport in Colorado, according to FlightAware. Upon landing, Carter was arrested and booked into the Mesa County Detention Facility. Advertisement 'This is an ongoing investigation and any further information and charges will be released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,' the department wrote in a statement. Startling footage of the mid-air chaos posted to TikTok shows a flight attendant appearing to try to restrain Carter with plastic zip-ties, only for him to push past and stand face-to-face with the worker. 'That's the last thing you're going to do to me,' he's heard telling the flight attendant. 'Stop! You need to sit down!' she demanded while Carter smirked and replied, 'No, ma'am.' Advertisement The flight attendant asked other passengers and workers to help her 'get control' of the situation and help restrain Carter. 4 Footage of the mid-air chaos posted to TikTok shows a flight attendant appearing to try to restrain Carter with plastic zip-ties, only for him to push past and get face-to-face with her. TikTok/@mysaltylove_ 4 The suspect is seen being physically put back in his seat by another passenger. TikTok/@mysaltylove_ Advertisement Seconds later, a large man in a white T-shirt walks over to Carter, towering over him. The flyer picks up Carter under the arms with ease, carries him like a child through the plane's aisle and plants him down in his seat. 'Sit your ass down,' the Good Samaritan scolded. Police reported no injuries during the mid-air chaos, but Breeze Airways told NBC Los Angeles that 'one flight attendant and one guest were evaluated for minor injuries.' 'Our focus now is on taking care of our Crew and remaining Guests who have been unfairly inconvenienced by this unfortunate event and getting them safely to their final destination as quickly as possible,' the airline said. 4 The unruly passenger was taken into custody by police at the direction of the FBI and taken to the Mesa County Detention Facility. Christopher Sadowski The FBI said that charges will be submitted to the US Attorney's Office for Colorado, but did not share what charges Carter is facing. The Post has reached out to the FBI and Breeza Airway for comment.
