New TikTok challenge costs San Diego Unified School District thousands as students damage laptops
Students deliberately damage Chromebook charging ports as part of a viral social media challenge, with at least 16 devices destroyed across three schools.
Kylie Strandberg
Posted
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A new online challenge is causing costly damage to school-issued laptops in San Diego as students deliberately damage devices and post videos to TikTok.
San Diego Unified School District said they've seen this trend in their district, with students putting objects in the charging ports of their devices to try and spark a fire.
At least 16 students from three different San Diego schools have destroyed their laptops as part of this challenge.
The total cost of the damage exceeds $7,000, according to district officials.
The district says each school has disciplined the students involved in damaging the devices.
San Diego Unified typically issues Chromebooks to students starting in 2nd grade, with devices replaced every four years.
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