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@tacomaschools
The Tacoma School District and the Tacoma Fire Department would like parents to know about a dangerous new viral video “challenge” that targets young people.
It is called the TikTok Challenge, Penny Challenge or Outlet Challenge. The challenge encourages students to record a video of themselves placing the plug portion of a cell phone charger partially into an electrical socket and sliding a penny onto the prongs.
This action results in sparks, damage to the electrical system and sometimes fire.
The challenge concludes after the video is shared to a social media account such as TikTok, a short-form video platform popular with teens and tweens.
Students at one our middle schools participated in the challenge at school on Friday, Jan. 24.
Tacoma Fire Department Lt. Marja Stowell says the challenge now sweeping the country is an incredibly dangerous stunt that could result in injury or death from an electrical shock. Nationally, this challenge has caused several fires and damage to electrical systems.
“Most kids aren’t thinking about criminal charges or having to pay for the damage when they attempt these challenges,” Lt. Stowell said. “Most of them probably don’t think they could die from this either.”
Videos of the challenge are circulating on TikTok. While TikTok is meant for children and adults 13 and older, the company does not verify a user’s age. Parents can restrict or block apps like this through the parental control settings in the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
Tacoma Fire and Tacoma Public Schools encourage all parents to talk to their children about how dangerous these types of challenges can be.