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Plainville firefighters responded to the Middle School of Plainville on Thursday, May 8, around 10:15 a.m., after a school-issued laptop began smoking.
The school was evacuated, but students were later allowed to return once the building was deemed safe, Plainville police said.
The teen was reportedly following a social media trend called the "Chromebook Challenge" when he stuck scissors into the machine's USB port, causing the battery to overheat and smoke, Superintendent Brian Reas told parents.
The child is not the first Connecticut student to attempt the viral stunt. Multiple school districts across the state have recently issued warnings to parents. In the past two weeks alone, Newington, Cromwell, and Derby schools have reported similar incidents involving laptop fires.
Newington High School was evacuated on May 1 after a student filled a classroom with toxic smoke by tampering with their school-issued laptop, authorities said. No injuries were reported.
Dr. Maureen Brummett, superintendent of Newington Public Schools, told NBC Connecticut that the trend is costly, stupid, and potentially life-threatening.
“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,” she said. “We have [an] insurance program, but it’s not covering intentional damage.”
While officials did not reveal the exact method the Newington student used to overheat the laptop, multiple TikTok tutorials demonstrate ways to complete the challenge. Some of these videos have since been removed, though it's unclear whether the social media giant took them down for safety reasons or if users deleted them because of backlash.
On Monday, a student at Derby High School inserted a graphite pencil into a school-issued Chromebook, causing it to spark, smoke, and ultimately destroy the laptop and damage the desk, the school district said. No injuries were reported.
It's unclear if either student in the Derby or Newington incidents has been charged.
Several Connecticut school leaders have warned that students who take part in the "Chromebook Challenge" will be charged with arson and vandalism.
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