TikTok 'Chromebook Challenge' prompts warnings from LI school officials, police
Law enforcement and school officials on Long Island are warning of a TikTok trend involving school-issued Google Chromebooks. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Several Long Island school districts are warning about a new TikTok trend that shows students tampering with their school-issued Google Chromebooks, which can cause them to catch fire.
No damaged property has been reported at Long Island schools, but officials in the Levittown, Huntington and South Huntington districts said they were taking preventive measures to warn parents and community members about the so-called "Chromebook Challenge."
The trend has been reportedly blamed for incidents that caused computers to catch fire in New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland. The warnings by Long Island districts said some students in other communities have taken paper clips or graphite in mechanical pencils to tamper with a computer’s USB port, potentially sparking a fire.
Levittown school officials said they have noticed students who may be curious about the trend examining their laptop ports, but were stopped by knowledgeable staff before anything was damaged.
"These trends on TikTok can move pretty instantaneously. We don’t want to send things out with unintended consequences, but we are notifying parents who are not aware of it and letting parents know what to avoid ... We are keeping our ear close to the ground to notify parents and staff before there are serious problems," Levittown schools Superintendent Todd Winch said in an interview.
Like most Long Island districts, Levittown assigns Chromebooks to students, Winch said. Each computer costs about $150, which is paid for using grant money. Those expenses can add up in a district serving 7,000 students, he said.
Nassau County Chief Fire Marshal Michael Uttaro said firefighters have not responded to any incidents related to the challenge, but his office would issue a warning to the public later Friday. He said shorting out a device can cause it to ignite, potentially injuring the person tampering with it and sparking a fire at home.
"If you decide to play this game and cause it to arc or catch on fire, now there’s a chance of catching a bed on fire and becoming a hazard to everyone else in the house," Uttaro said. "There are certain things on social media trends, you should just stay away from."
Nassau County police issued a warning about the "Chromebook Challenge" following incidents in other regions. Police said intentionally damaging school property can lead to an arrest for criminal mischief.
Suffolk police said Friday they had not received any reports of incidents related to the challenge.
Most school laptops are powered by lithium ion batteries, Uttaro said. Tampering with the computers can lead to a fire or overheating the battery, he said.
Last month, firefighters responded to Garden City Park after an elementary student’s iPad battery malfunctioned and his backpack was smoking, Uttaro said.
"We shouldn’t antagonize these batteries by doing stupid things," Uttaro said. "By doing silly challenges, it introduces stress that cause it to catch fire or while charging the battery. This challenge is a bad idea."
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
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