Viral TikTok Challenge Causes Major Damage To Texas Schools

(KNUE-FM) There was a time when not all social media challenges were bad, but there is one recently that has cost a Texas ISD thousands of dollars.

Not only is this latest TikTok trend costing lots of money, but it’s also dangerous.

What is This New Dangerous TikTok Challenge?

According to KVUE, the new challenge on TikTok is known as the ‘Chromebook Challenge’.

It’s encouraging students to jam objects such as paper clips or pencils into the USB ports on the laptop computer.

Doing this will obviously cause damage to the laptop but it could also cause it to spark or even catch on fire.

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One Texas School District Sent Letters to Parents

The Chief Communications Officer for Hays CISD said he learned of the challenge recently and sent a letter to parents after finding out students had already participated.

Most students aren’t thinking about the consequences, it’s all about following along with the challenge.

So far, 10 Chromebooks have been damaged.

The District is Replacing the Chromebooks

As you would expect school districts are now asking parents to discuss the ramifications of following this TikTok challenge with their kids.

The parents of the student damaging the laptop is expected to pay for the damages.

If the parents cannot afford the bill, the district will cover the cost at around $300 per laptop, so it’s approximately $3,000 for what has already been damaged.

Since the letter was distributed to parents, no additional laptops have been damaged.

Let’s hope this horrible social media challenge is gone quickly and doesn’t pop back up next school year.