A dangerous TikTok trend is to blame for a growing number of Chromebook fires in numerous schools, causing evacuations in some cases. What is the trend exactly and what causes the Chromebooks to spark? Let's Get the Facts. Students are using items like lead, paper clips and push pins to jam the electric ports of their Chromebooks.

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.

What began as a viral TikTok trend has escalated into school evacuations, hospital visits, and arrests across multiple states, as students continue to ignite their laptops in the name of internet fame.

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.