Chromebook, TikTok
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A 15-year-old student is facing charges after a laptop caught fire outside a classroom in what police suspect was part of a social media challenge trending on TikTok.
The challenge involves sticking a piece of metal like a paperclip, graphite or push pin in the USB port of their school issued laptop in order to cause sparks and possibly set it on fire.
The “Chromebook challenge” involves using objects such as push pins, staples, paper clips, metallic gum wrappers and graphite, found in pencil lead. They are inserted into USB or charging ports, under keyboard keys, or near the batteries to deliberately short-circuit the devices.