Two Providence school students and a staff member were brought to the hospital after ‘Chromebook challenge’ incident

PROVIDENCE – A dangerous social media challenge in which laptops are intentionally short circuited sent two students and a staff member at a Providence middle school to hospitals on Monday, officials said.

Firefighters responded around 10:45 a.m. to Governor Christopher DelSesto Middle School on Springfield Street after receiving reports of a “tablet or laptop emitting smoke,” Samara Pinto, a City Hall spokesperson, wrote in an email.

“Two DelSesto students and a staff member were brought to the hospital, out of an abundance of caution, following smoke inhalation that was caused by tampering with school chromebooks,” Principal Ashley Ferranti wrote in a letter to the school community.

Pinto confirmed the incident was a result of what’s known as the “Chromebook challenge” but said she was unable to provide specific details of what happened, including who was involved or how it began.

There were no updates on the condition of the two students and teacher as of early Monday afternoon, Pinto wrote.

Teachers and school staff across the country have been alarmed as students have picked up the social media trend, The New York Times reported last week.

Challenge participants will jam objects – anything from staples and push pins to graphite from pencils and metallic gum wrappers – into their laptops so the devices begin to spark and smoke, the Times reported. Students then pull out their phones and film the spectacle, and upload the videos online.

“This is very concerning behavior and disruptive to the learning environment,” Ferranti wrote in her letter on Monday. “It is a threat to school safety and students caught doing this will face immediate disciplinary action.”

Ferranti urged parents to speak to their children “about the potential hazard that these actions may cause.”

In a Facebook post earlier this month, police in Cumberland, R.I., also warned parents about the trend, writing, “What may seem like a ‘fun experiment’ online can quickly turn into something much more serious.”

Students face risk of electrical shock and fire, all while leaving behind permanent damage to expensive school equipment, authorities said. They may also face disciplinary actions – “and even legal consequences,” police wrote.

In Cranston, police said last week authorities were investigating whether several students tried to carry out the trend at Achievement First Iluminar Middle School on Friday afternoon, according to WPRI.

Police Major Todd Patalano told the news station police were called to the school after a Chromebook malfunctioned, filling a classroom with smoke and setting off fire alarms, prompting evacuation of the building.

Patalano did not immediately return a request for comment from the Globe on Monday, but told WPRI detectives were questioning four 12-year-old students about how the laptop malfunctioned. No one was injured as a result of the incident, Patalano said.