SD Unified Student Trustees Call TikTok's Chromebook Challenge Wrong, Urge Fellow Classmates Not to Participate
SAN DIEGO (MAY 15, 2025) – San Diego Unified School District is not immune to the Chromebook Challenge craze that is impacting school districts across the nation. Student Board of Education Trustees Joseph Cruz and Quinton Baldis are encouraging their classmates not to buy-in to the Chromebook craze because it’s unsafe, irresponsible and wastes precious district resources.
As of Wednesday, it’s known that at least 16 students from three different schools destroyed their San Diego Unified-issued Chromebooks participating in the challenge. The estimated cost to replace a single Chromebook is $445, and the combined cost for the 16 destroyed is $7,120 to replace. Discipline for the students was handled by each school according to district policies, found here.
"Truthfully, it's just dumb. These computers are lent to us so we can better learn," said Trustee Cruz, a Senior at Morse High School. "It's wasteful, dangerous, and everyone loses. I'm highly advising my classmates to not join in on this careless trend. We're better than this.”
In some instances, across the country, students have stuck paperclips, pens, and other sharp objects in the ports of the Chromebooks, which causes a spark, and in some cases causes them to catch on fire.
“Online challenges are usually meant to be fun or support a good cause, but the Chromebook Challenge is unsafe and could hurt people if they cause a fire like we have seen has happened elsewhere,” said Trustee Baldis, a Senior at Scripps Ranch High School. “I know some of our students already took part, but I am encouraging my classmates not to fall for it. It’s a bad idea.”
All 2nd, 6th and 9th grader students are assigned a Chromebook to keep with them throughout their school journey until they reach the next grade level where a new one is issued. Grades Transitional Kindergarten through 1st have Chromebooks in the classroom.
San Diego Unified will leverage its weekly newsletter to families and social media to encourage students not to take part in the Chromebook Challenge. Here is a link that San Diego Unified provides to families for technology support.
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