- Schools in Connecticut are being forced to evacuate
- Students are setting school-owned Chromebooks on fire
- Insurance “not covering intentional damage”
Schools across Connecticut, U.S., are being forced to evacuate due to students taking part in a dangerous new TikTok trend.
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Students are deliberately setting fire to school-issued Chromebooks by inserting objects such as paper clips, aluminum foil, or pencil graphite into the devices’ USB ports.
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As reported by WFSB, Newington High School was evacuated last week after a laptop fire. The incident occured after a student attempted to record a “how to” video related to the trend.
Cromwell High School had to be evacuated earlier this week for the same reason, with the superintendent suspecting more than one student was involved. At Derby High School, students also caused their Chromebooks to go up in smoke by trying the trend, according to the Greenwich Time.
Insurance not covering intentional damage
Dr. Maureen Brummett, superintendent of Newington Public Schools, said “I was alerted by both my director of security and high school principal that we had a Chromebook that was smoking”.
Staff investigated and found that the damage wasn’t caused by faulty equipment, but intentionally done by students.
“We were able to do an investigation with student interviews and other methods that we use, and it became clear that the damage was done intentionally. That it wasn’t a malfunctioning Chromebook, but rather a student had intentionally done things to it that caused it to smoke and eventually melt,” Brummett continued.
She added that the responsibility falls to the student to replace the Chromebooks, noting that the school’s insurance doesn’t cover intentional damage.
“Chromebooks are expensive and they’re going up in price, so when a student does intentionally destroy a Chromebook, it’s their responsibility to replace it. We have insurance program but it’s not covering intentional damage,” she said.
TikTok trend is producing toxic smoke
DJ Zordon, Newington fire marshal said that when they rushed to the scene the room was filling with smoke. He added “The batteries that are essentially catching on fire, once they burn, they’re producing this toxic smoke”.
Zordon explained that it’s more than just a trend, pointing to the wider disruption and the resources it’s draining.
“It causes a lot of disruption. The school has to be evacuated, firefighters respond to the fire house and subsequently to the scene, it takes resources from any other emergencies that might be happening at that time,” said the fire marshal.
Cromwell Fire Chief Jason Brade said he found a laptop on fire when called out to reports of smoke at Cromwell High School
“The back cover where the battery cover was melted away, and the battery was smoking,” he said. “The small ones like cell phones and laptops, it can cause an explosion. It could have potentially burned somebody. Shrapnel could have hit other people if it exploded.”
No students have been injured, but are facing consequences from the schools and police. Other districts like Rocky Hill and Bristol are warning families of the dangers of the trend.