Open Menu
AllLocalCommunitiesAbout
lotide
AllLocalCommunitiesAbout
Login

Kids are short-circuiting their school-issued Chromebooks for TikTok clout

⁨210⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨return2ozma@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/05/tiktok-trend-sees-kids-setting-chromebooks-on-fire-at-least-one-kid-hospitalized/

source

Comments

Sort:hotnewtop
  • hal_5700X@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    TikTok is poison for the mind.

    source
    • sheogorath@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

      It literally shrinks your brain with excessive usage.

      source
  • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

    Incredibly this makes me miss when people pretended to slip and fall at the grocery store so they could throw milk jugs in the air and make a mess.

    source
  • veeesix@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    It’d be a crying shame if the students were required to complete the school year with physical books and a notebook.

    source
    • ButteredMonkey@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

      Normally that’s exactly what they would do if enough students destroyed their computers to blow through the loaners. The frustrating thing is this is happening right when schools are set to do state testing and state testing is mostly online now. This requires every student in the building to have a device at the same time. Normally all the loaners would be for kids who forgot theirs that day.

      source
  • user224@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    the so-called Chromebook Challenge includes students sticking things into Chromebook ports to short-circuit the system.

    I am rather surprised that works. I thought any modern device would have overload protection in place. I think I even remember accidentally tripping it on some device, but it would just reset after reboot.
    I also tried to see the max output current of my previous phone this way. Load it up till the protection trips. Result: Stable up to 2.1A, tripped at 2.5A.

    Oh, yeah. A Xiaomi phone charger I have also shuts down if I either overload it or immediately load it near max rating rather than gradually increase the load.

    source
    • Retro_unlimited@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Maybe they are poking a hole in the lithium battery

      source
    • TerHu@lemm.ee ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      once put usb-c in a usb-a port and my desktop pc performed an immediate reboot without any permanent harm…

      source
  • ExtantHuman@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I don’t get it. I was never this stupid as a kid.

    source
    • WhiteRice@lemmy.ml ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Are you sure? Kids are pretty stupid.

      source
      • ExtantHuman@lemm.ee ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        I never intentionally destroyed expensive electronics to “try to impress” anyone in real life, let alone online (although that didn’t quite exist yet).

        So, yeah, I’m sure.

        source
        • -> View More Comments
    • peregrin5@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I used to be a teacher in the 2010s. I remember boys having this ghost pepper challenge they would do that would put them in literal tears.

      I never stopped them. Some just have to learn through experience that being an idiot to impress your buds isn’t going to result in a good time for you.

      source
      • paraphrand@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        That’s, like, a normal logical one. It’s actually food, it’s spicy. It makes sense to compete to see who can handle the spicy food.

        Stealing faucets from public bathrooms? That’s not a normal logical one. That’s a devious lick, and something invented to be highly memetic and propelled by a highly optimized algorithm that incentivizes recency, novelty, and dopamine hacking. It even had a marketing/brand name!

        source
        • -> View More Comments
      • Bezier@suppo.fi ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Eating a spicy pepper is just harmless fun. I’d join in that activity today.

        source
        • -> View More Comments
    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Same, but I had classmates who were.

      source
    • sexy_peach@feddit.org ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I was pretty stupid

      source
    • paraphrand@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      You didn’t have the same social and monetary incentives TikTok provides.

      source
    • Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Some of my shenanigans definitely involved breaking electronics

      source
    • rabber@lemmy.ca ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I was. When the bell would ring and the halls were hectic I would put popcorn in the communal microwave and put like 20 min and leave and sometimes nobody would notice till it catches fire

      I almost burned down the school a couple times

      source
      • ExtantHuman@lemm.ee ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Hopefully you’re less of a piece of shit now

        source
        • -> View More Comments
  • Norin@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Youthful rebellion transcends technology.

    Is there much difference between this and, say, using a pen to drill a hole in your desk?

    source
    • SaltSong@startrek.website ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Desks are cheaper, and the hole only slightly impairs functionality.

      source
      • TryingToActHuman@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        I’m not so sure about cheaper. A quick google search shows the desks I used in school are priced around $400-$600 depending on type (different subjects had different desks), whereas the Chromebooks are around $250. I definitely agree with your second point, though.

        source
        • -> View More Comments
      • ililiililiililiilili@lemm.ee ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        They also don’t release magic smoke. All my homies hate vandalizing desks.

        source
    • hoch@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Drilling a hole in your desk doesn’t lead to cancer.

      source
    • IMongoose@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Pen is less likely to start a fire and or create toxic smoke.

      source
    • LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I’ve never done that either. The fuck? did you eat paint as a kid?

      source
    • slaneesh_is_right@lemmy.org ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      We did it for the love of the game and not to impress strangers

      source
      • magic_smoke@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Bullahut you did it to impress the other nosepickers, same reason these kids are doing it.

        source
        • -> View More Comments
    • kami@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Thank you, it’s relieving to see that some people don’t fall for the “kids today” bullshit

      source
  • jabathekek@sopuli.xyz ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Perhaps it’s more like “Kids short-circuiting school issued chromebooks because of excessive surveillance.”

    …but probably not (or at least, not entirely) because many kids are dumb.

    source: was a dumb kid.

    source
    • terminhell@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Nah, before Chromebooks we’d vandalize the text books and desk.

      source
      • SplashJackson@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        I would take the balls from mice

        And also computer mice

        source
        • -> View More Comments
    • FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Excessive surveillance? It’s school property lol

      source
      • DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        It’s school property with a camera and microphone in their homes lol

        source
        • -> View More Comments
  • macaw_dean_settle@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Good, chromebooks suck.

    source
  • Bezier@suppo.fi ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Aren’t the families responsible for the damages?

    source
    • JaymesRS@literature.cafe ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Yes they are. These 9th graders are feral though. That realization would require forethought.

      Some of these kids should have been sent out to cut trail for a year between HS and Middle School.

      source
      • mean_bean279@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        This is highly dependent on the state and even the areas within a state. Here in California for instance we have the Williams Act which lays out a ton of guidance. Some of which impact students paying for things at schools. Some districts in the state view Williams Act and 1:1 Chromebook deployments as being something that the student/parents aren’t responsible for paying for even when they purposefully damage it. This can change though from region to region in the state based on how a districts legal team and its board chooses to read the law since no one so far (at least as far as I was last aware and I work in edtech) has pushed to see where it stops or starts. I’ve worked for districts that were on separate ends of that spectrum and even in the district that made parents pay for damages we still would give them a replacement and not charge them since it was added to a “tab” and only if they wanted transcripts did they have to pay.

        source
        • -> View More Comments
      • Warehouse@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        What does “cut trail” mean in this context? Do you mean literally going to walking trails and maintaining them? Is there precident for that?

        source
        • -> View More Comments
      • macaw_dean_settle@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        *Junior High

        source
        • -> View More Comments
  • KelvarIW@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    As I age I find myself feeling more and more like the cool step-dad or uncle.

    Y’know I hate everything Chromebooks stand for. “You get 'em, kid. Now how about we get some pizza?”

    source
  • Ryick@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    If this were an unbiased and honest article; then it would read “Kids are short-circuiting their school-issued Chromebooks for social clout.” The subtle message, in this article, is TikTok = bad, which is illogical because events such as this will occur regardless of platform or even lack of a platform. It will ALWAYS happen. The question is how to mitigate these events as much as possible, because it’s impossible to completely eradicate “kids doing X for social clout.” It’s a part of learning and being human.

    source
    • TowardsTheFuture@lemmy.zip ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Yes but without tik tok this is a kid or two being stupid and charged a couple hundred at one school. I think we had 3 kids today at school destroy their laptops.

      source
      • Ryick@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        You can replace TikTok with any social media platform. That’s why this argument is illogical in that it blames TikTok.

        source
        • -> View More Comments
    • w3dd1e@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Yeah, could have been called “kids are learning how circuits work thanks to TikTok trend” and suddenly the story has a whole other meaning

      source
  • Wildfire0Straggler3@lemm.ee ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Fuck chromebooks anyways, Google shouldn’t be allowed to steal so much information about our youth directly from the devices they use at school. They should be using laptops with Linux installed on them, preferably Pop!_OS to preserve the kids privacy.

    I don’t condone damaging school property, although I think it’s a lesser evil to Google’s privacy practices on Chromebooks.

    source
    • pineapplelover@lemm.ee ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I agree but I’m not sure why specifically popos though

      source
      • Wildfire0Straggler3@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Pop!_OS is an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution featuring a custom GNOME desktop.

        It is designed to have a minimal amount of clutter on the desktop without distractions in order to allow the user to focus on work.

        This distro was also designed with security and privacy in mind.

        So students can more easily focus on their work while also being more secure and private while using an easy to use interface, I know it’s not the only one but its a good one!

        system76.com/pop/security/

        source
        • -> View More Comments
    • paraphrand@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Yeah, no worries about the lithium fires. Fuck those chromebooks.

      source
    • trash@lemm.ee ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I’m with you, but that’s not the reason these kids are doing this. It’s because they are idiots.

      source
  • asudox@lemmy.asudox.dev ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    What does “clout” mean?

    source
    • MaggiWuerze@feddit.org ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Another word for fame

      source
      • sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Also reputation

        source
      • throwawayacc0430@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        more like a rap sheet

        source
      • asudox@lemmy.asudox.dev ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Thanks

        source
    • catloaf@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

      www.dictionary.com/browse/clout

      Are you not a native English speaker? It’s not an uncommon word.

      source
    • ccdfa@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Yeah basically it’s like good aura

      source
    • tonyn@lemmy.ml ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Net Cred

      source
  • ephrin@sh.itjust.works ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Just got a notification about this from my kids school district in Northern CA.

    source
  • TomMasz@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Behold the next generation of voters.

    source
    • Telorand@reddthat.com ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      It’s how the US got Trump. The “Trump Train” was a meme, first.

      source
  • cubism_pitta@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Chromebooks are absolute garbage.

    Most computers I have used over the last 15 years will disable USB power if you short out the port (working with electronics you tend to replicate the "sticking scissors into a USB port with some regularity)

    Pencil lead I am sure causes other issues though… it gets red hot and melts eventually

    source
    • Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Is there a better option schools should be buying at a similar price point?

      source
      • cubism_pitta@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

        I would ask what value chromebooks add to education?

        We are not teaching kids to do anything with them other than consume Google and Adobe services.

        It’s no better than schools were when I was in school where we used windows and mainly learned to consume Microsoft products.

        source
      • KoalaUnknown@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        pine64.com/…/14″-pinebook-pro-linux-laptop-ansi-u…

        source
        • -> View More Comments
  • SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Just gotta get some of that Magic Smoke.

    source
  • LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    We live in hell

    source
  • Rentlar@lemmy.ca ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    When I was a middle schooler I definitely wanted to see what would happen from messing around with that would be like…

    But I also wasn’t inundated by short form videos trying it out and encouraging me to do it myself also as part of a trend…

    source