This back-to-school nightmare gives a completely different interpretation to the phrase “a glitch in the system.”
A North Carolina high school recently had to address a situation where students were asked to return their district-issued laptops due to the presence of bedbugs emerging from the devices, as reported by WRAL News.
Unwanted visitors made their way into the media center at Riverside High School, where the Google Chromebooks had been stored during the summer. These unwelcome guests managed to find their way into laptops that were distributed to students during freshman orientation, just before the district’s start date on Aug. 26.
The Durham public school district is requesting that parents return their electronics and encouraging families to thoroughly check their homes for any remaining devices.
“We understand that this may cause concern, but please rest assured that we are taking every precaution to address the situation and prevent further occurrences,” Riverside principal Gloria Woods-Weeks wrote in an email to parents.
Administrators have successfully fumigated the infested computers and the entire media center. According to school officials, they are collaborating closely with pest control experts to put in place extra preventive measures to avoid any future occurrences.
“We are working closely with pest control experts to implement additional preventive measures to ensure this does not recur,” school officials said.
Eliminating bedbugs can be quite a challenge once they have infested a particular area. These tiny, brown insects, roughly the size of an apple seed, are known for their resilience.
Contrary to popular belief, they do not cause harm to their hosts.
They tend to come out mostly during the night, targeting unsuspecting sleepers and leaving behind red marks that resemble mosquito bites.
