By Noah Stein
Earlier last week an incredibly dangerous Tik Tok trend swept across the district. It involves putting objects like lead and paperclips into the usb port of your chromebook to intentionally cause it to smoke and spark. The trend was most prominent Monday which led to the school sending an email home to warn parents and students. Which led to an email being sent home to warn students and families.
Thankfully our school was lucky enough to not have any fires caused by this trend, and nobody was harmed. In some schools either fires were caused or alarms went off causing students to have to leave the building. According to NBC News, a 15-year-old Belleville High School student in New Jersey was charged with third-degree arson and criminal mischief after allegedly setting a Chromebook on fire.
Many students who participated in this trend had damage done to their chromebooks. An anonymous source who participated in this trend is now unable to use their usb port to plug in headphones.
Freshman Lucas Constantine shared, “Although a lot of people believe that this trend is funny, I believe that it is very unprofessional because high school students should not be damaging school chromebooks which are being lent to them. It’s rude and causing unnecessary damage.”
I was incredibly fortunate to interview Gina Maher and gain her insight into the recent trend affecting Chromebooks. When asked how the trend impacts the devices, she explained, “It harms the inner workings of the computer due to intense heat, which can cause smoke and even flames to come from the device. The scariest part is that this releases harmful toxins, which can be dangerous to breathe in. This has even led Homeland Security to investigate the trend.”
She went on to emphasize the unpredictability of the damage, noting, “Chromebooks can still catch fire even after they’ve been tampered with. It’s very hard to predict.”
When asked whether the damaged Chromebooks are fixable, Maher shared, “Most likely not. And if it’s not fixable, you’ll need to get a new Chromebook.” She added, “Edutech will be able to tell if a Chromebook has been tampered with, but it’s far better to turn them in, both for your safety and to keep the devices functional.”
Finally, when asked about her thoughts on the trend itself, Maher said, “It really hurts everybody, the school, your parents, and yourself. What are the benefits of harming a Chromebook?” She concluded by urging students to be thoughtful, “We need to be responsible as a school and use our judgment before we act.”
Additionally the School sent out another urgent email. The email warns of “toxic and flammable vapor release,” which leaves the chromebook whilst doing the trend. They also urged students to turn in the chromebooks if they have been tampered with, and to “ not attempt to charge the device.” The school most importantly noted that the chromebooks can combust at any time, which is a major safety concern to all students. Lastly the school added that doing this trend going forward will be viewed as a “ deliberate act of destruction and will be treated as such.”
Social media trends aren’t always harmful. The USC speak your mind challenge that recently was very popular among Snapchat and Instagram users had people dunking water on their heads and nominating their friends. This trend was started by students at the University of South Carolina and was a fun way to raise awareness for mental health struggles.
Overall make sure to understand what the trends you’re watching and doing are, and if a trend seems dangerous make sure to not recreate it.
Harmful school trends like harming your chromebooks grab attention online, but they leave behind real damage in classrooms and our school. Imagine if the same energy went into starting trends that center on acts of kindness, or like our schools positive impact clubs awareness weeks. The next viral moment should be one that supports students, not one that suggests vandalism.
Comments are closed.