Various popular trends come and go at a rapid pace in the age of social media and one TikTok trend has gotten the attention of education officials across parts of southcentral Alaska. As originally reported by the Anchorage Daily News, authorities are investigating a situation involving teens who allegedly fired gel balls from a brightly colored toy gun in the Anchorage area. The incidents are part of a new viral trend called the Orbeez Challenge.
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent Clayton Holland tells KSRM that incidents aren’t happening locally, but school officials are taking precaution nonetheless:
“The Orbeez Challenge, we’d heard about what’s happening in Anchorage. We’d heard rumors about it here, but we have nothing verified it happened here, but we wanted to get ahead of that. It’s one of those TikTok things that you hear about. I’m not a TikTok person, so I don’t fully understand it, but I do know that it’s one of those ridiculous things that people participate in when these challenges go out. We’re ahead of it. There are serious consequences for having any kind of lookalike weapon on campus, illegally with the law system there is and then within the district as well. It’s a serious consequence. As a parent, if you are listening to this, know what your child is doing. Know what is on TikTok, what they are doing and have a grasp on that the best that you can and talk to them about this. If they come with one of things to our campuses, there are serious consequences. It’s just something we’re not going to tolerate.”
Holland added that if you’re a senior and you get caught participating in the Orbeez Challenge, this could affect your graduation:
“It’ll impact the ability to walk at graduation and that’s pretty devastating to parents and family members who travel, especially coming off of COVID, I’m guessing there’s going to be a lot more travel for that kind of thing, significant impacts. We don’t want that to happen. Proactive, we don’t want it, you’re not going to want it and know what your kid is doing. Just like always, we just encourage people to know what your kid is doing. It’s hard with the devices they all hold or a lot of them have in their hands all the time. Pay attention and have conversations and let’s make sure the right things happen.”
KPBSD states that if parents or students have any questions about the policy, to contact them and ask.