A “dangerous” new TikTok trend has resulted in multiple school evacuations across Connecticut, WFSB reports.
Students are reportedly forcing paper clips, pushpins, or similar metallic items into the ports of their Chromebooks in order to cause a short circuit in the devices, which led to fires in all three cases.
Last week, Newington High School was evacuated after a laptop fire, which was believed to have been started as a student attempted to record a “how to” video related to the trend.
Earlier this week, Cromwell High School was evacuated for the same reason, with the district’s superintendent suspecting multiple students were involved. Derby High School students also sparked a fire with the trend, according to the Greenwich Time.
Rocky Hill superintendent Mark Zito received word of the trend from three neighboring districts, telling the publication, “Today we received notice from three neighboring school districts about an ongoing TikTok trend influencing students to force electrical short circuits on Chromebook devices by inserting items such as paper clips, pencil graphite, pushpins, folded metallic gum wrappers, aluminum foil, etc. into the USB port. This action can spark or puncture the lithium battery in the device and poses a serious fire risk.”
Rocky Hill staff are on the lookout for students inserting foreign devices into their laptops, forcibly removing keys from the keyboard, or otherwise tampering with the tech. Zito said that any student caught engaging in the trend will face criminal charges such as vandalism or arson, and possibly suspension or expulsion.
The students involved with the Cromwell fire are also facing consequences from the school and police. It’s unclear if those from Derby are, too.
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