One participant is reportedly facing criminal charges in juvenile court.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
By Scharon Harding<\/p>\n\n\n\n Schools across the US are warning parents about an Internet trend that has students purposefully trying to damage their school-issued Chromebooks so that they start smoking or catch fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Various school districts, including some in Colorado<\/a>, New Jersey,<\/a> North Carolina<\/a>, and Washington<\/a>, have sent letters to parents warning about the trend that\u2019s largely taken off on TikTok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Per reports from school districts and videos that Ars Technica has reviewed online, the so-called Chromebook Challenge includes students sticking things into Chromebook ports to short-circuit the system. Students are using various easily accessible items to do this, including writing utensils, paper clips, gum wrappers, and pushpins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Chromebook challenge has caused chaos for US schools, leading to laptop fires that have forced school evacuations<\/a>, early dismissals<\/a>, and the summoning of first responders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Schools are also warning that damage to school property can result in disciplinary action and, in some states, legal action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Plainville, Connecticut, a middle schooler allegedly \u201cintentionally stuck scissors into a laptop, causing smoke to emit from it,\u201d Superintendent Brian Reas told local news station WFSB<\/a>. The incident reportedly led to one student going to the hospital due to smoke inhalation and is suspected to be connected to the viral trend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlthough the investigation is ongoing, the student involved will be referred to juvenile court to face criminal charges,\u201d Reas said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recently, TikTok banned the search term \u201cChromebook Challenge,” Ars confirmed. Searching for the term brings up a message that reads:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your safety matters The message includes a link to a page<\/a> telling users how to \u201cassess challenges\u201d on the platform. TikTok has said<\/a> that the Chromebook Challenge is on other social media platforms as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Google didn\u2019t respond to Ars Technica\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This isn\u2019t the first dangerous Internet sensation closely associated with TikTok. In 2022, for example, TikTok helped catapult the Kia Challenge, which led to uprisings in Kia and Hyundai thefts, as well as a $200 million class-action lawsuit settlement<\/a> from the car manufacturers. There was also the Blackout Challenge<\/a>, where people tried to choke themselves until they lost consciousness, and the Fire Challenge<\/a>, where people poured flammable liquids on themselves and then set the liquids on fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parents and psychiatrists have been trying to wrap their heads around how some of the more dangerous Internet trends take off, especially among kids. A viewpoint published by a pair of University of Tennessee Health Science Center at Memphis psychiatrists in JAMA Psychiatry in November highlighted the complexities<\/a> of trying to decipher if children who participate in such risky TikTok trends are looking to hurt themselves. TikTok challenges are an “emerging public health concern\u201d for children, the psychiatrists wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s not that kids are just dumber today because of the trash school system, but they’re being purposely impaired by an extreme vaccine schedule with toxic adjuvants, processed poison food, and environmental poisons including fluoride in their water… So along those lines, is this behavior surprising? https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/gadgets\/2025\/05\/tiktok-trend-sees-kids-setting-chromebooks-on-fire-at-least-one-kid-hospitalized\/ One participant is reportedly facing criminal charges in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11760"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11762,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11760\/revisions\/11762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Chromebook-challenge-1152x648-1746806446.jpg\")
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<\/strong>Some online challenges can be dangerous, disturbing, or even fabricated. Learn how to recognize harmful challenges so you can protect your health and well-being.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n