Last Wednesday afternoon, Marblehead High School was evacuated “due to a report of smoke in a classroom,” Principal Michele Carlson wrote in an email to Marblehead High School families.
Carlson wrote that “the evacuation was carried out quickly and safely. Upon investigation, we identified the source of the smoke as a Chromebook… We have resumed the school day and are taking steps to ensure the continued safety of our students and staff.”
She reached out to Marblehead High School families again later that evening to provide them with more information about the “concerning trend circulating on TikTok that poses significant safety risks to students and school property.”
The trend in question is called the “Chromebook Paperclip Challenge,” she wrote, and it involves students inserting metal objects – like paper clips, push pins or aluminum foil – into the USB port of Chromebooks. She then said that “this action can cause the device’s lithium battery to short-circuit, leading to overheating, smoke, or even fire.”
“Unfortunately, today we experienced an incident at MHS linked to this trend, which led to the evacuation of the school due to smoke from the Chromebook. Thankfully, no one was injured,” she wrote.
Carlson then asked that those who received the email speak with their student about “the dangers of participating in social media challenges and the serious risks associated with tampering with electronic devices.”
She also shared two articles with the MHS families. The first was Parents’ article “The TikTok Trend That Has Kids Setting Their School Laptops On Fire During Class,” linked here: tinyurl.com/MHD-TikTok. The second article Carlson shared was GROUP’s article “School officials say TikTok trend has students forcing paper clips, pushpins into Chromebooks,” linked here: tinyurl.com/MHD-TikTok2.
