The La Joya Independent School district is joining PSJA ISD in warning the public of a TikTok trend where students damage their school-issued laptops, which results in the devices catching fire.

The Chromebook Challenge involves students stuffing pencil lead into the device’s ports or electrical outlets. This causes the laptops to overheat and catch fire, and potentially explode.

La Joya ISD Chief Technology Officer Haissam Mayasi said a classroom had to be evacuated last week after a student allegedly participated in the challenge and the laptop caught on fire.

Mayasi is pleading parents to talk to their children about the dangers of the challenge.

“Please talk with your children and let them know the severity of the situation and the risks associated with it… this is not really worth the few likes that you're gonna get in a video,” Mayasi said.

La Joya ISD said the student’s parents will have to pay to replace the laptops, which can run from $300 to $500.