12-05-2025
Don't participate in TikTok Chromebook challenge, Pittsburgh-area school district warns students
A Pittsburgh-area school district is warning kids not to stick objects in the ports of their Chromebooks, saying the dangerous TikTok trend poses a serious safety hazard.
What is the TikTok Chromebook challenge?
The Carlynton School District superintendent wrote a letter to parents, raising concerns about a trend that encourages students to put foreign objects like pencils into the ports of Chromebooks in an attempt to cause the laptop to produce smoke or catch on fire.
"Please be aware that Chromebooks and similar devices contain lithium-ion batteries, which, when compromised, can reach temperatures exceeding 900°F and produce toxic smoke. Fires involving these batteries are difficult to extinguish and pose a serious safety hazard," Carlynton Superintendent John W. Kreider wrote.
Students could face criminal charges, district warns
Students who tamper with devices will be disciplined and could even be suspended or expelled, Kreider said. Students who try to catch their Chromebooks on fire may even be referred to law enforcement.
In Ohio, a 15-year-old Eastern Heights Middle School student was charged with felony counts of arson and vandalism after police said he tampered with his Chromebook, filling a classroom with smoke, CBS affiliate WOIO reported.
While Kreider says he hasn't received any reports of this happening in the Carlynton School District, he's asking parents to talk to their kids about "the dangers of participating in harmful online trends." Students who see anyone tampering with a device are asked to report it to an adult.
"We strongly urge all students to use their school-issued devices responsibly and to never engage in activities that could endanger their own safety or the safety of others," Kreider said.
