Here’s the letter that Cooperative Middle School Principal Drew Bairstow sent to parents. In it, he takes on a very worrisome trend – the “Chromebook Challenge.” This joint letter, which was delivered on May 8, asks a truly urgent question. It brings to the fore the dangerous trend of students injecting harmful objects into their laptops. These actions led to overheating and smoke conditions at multiple schools. One of the most recent examples happened at Belleville High School, causing widespread evacuations.
In the “Chromebook Challenge,” students complete the potentially dangerous task of shoving conductive materials into their Chromebooks. They use everyday objects—lead from mechanical pencils, paperclips, or push pins—to tackle the challenge. Over the last three days alone, Exeter Region Cooperative School District has experienced a minimum of 15 reported cases. In these circumstances, students have purposely introduced conductive materials,” Bairstow wrote in his letter.
Substanding such tampering with lithium-ion batteries can cause a state called thermal runaway. This phenomenon is known as electrolyte decomposition, and it can cause batteries to heat up uncontrollably, leading to explosions, fires, or the emission of toxic gases. Capt. Chase Hamilton of Belleville’s fire department recently shared the grave dangers associated with this trend. He cautioned, “These batteries can become very dangerous if abused… and somebody could easily get injured.”
The Belleville High School incident specifically involved a Chromebook that caught fire after the challenge. Fortunately, no injuries were reported. The deliberative nature of their policy discussion wasn’t Capt. Hamilton’s view of the scene. The smell was quite potent when I walked into the school to conduct the inspection,” he explained. He went on to caution, “All smoke is bad, all of it. But this particular type of thing is absolutely the kind of thing that you do not want to be inhaling.”
The new challenge is taking TikTok by storm and school districts and fire departments across the country are reacting. Nationwide, schools are sending safety alerts to students and their families to warn them about the risks of taking part in these trends. Bairstow had been very vocal about his fear that would happen. He continued, “This is more than an issue of property damage — these actions create a significant toxic smoke and fire risk, both in schools and at students’ homes.
In response to the ever-increasing problem, the Exeter Region Cooperative School District has implemented some proactive measures. They produced an excellent resource page that truly is a one-stop shop for parents and students. The district’s goal is to educate and eliminate more accidents and serious injuries from this troubling trend.
