It’s 2016 and the Back to the Future Part II prophecy has been fulfilled: ‘hoverboards’ are here to stay. The tag, “#hoverboard,” has been used nearly 500,000 times on Instagram alone. The future is not all it’s cracked up to be though: according to Today, hoverboards were of the most popular gifts given during the holidays — but also one of the most dangerous. Recent incidents of people falling off of these devices and exploding batteries have sparked a debate about whether or not they should be banned from public spaces.

College students have found hoverboards to be a useful form of transportation around campus between classes. “Some [college] students need to travel across the entirety of a monstrous campus to get to class. Hoverboards are the life hack that enables them to cover ground at a faster rate,” said junior Stephen Tannenbaum.

However, many schools such as Georgetown and American University have instituted bans as a safety precaution. The Chief Operating Officer of Georgetown, Christopher Augostini explained this decision in a recent email to the students:

“Until the Consumer Product Safety Commission makes a determination on the safety of these devices, we are prohibiting their use or storage on our campus.”

Other schools have banned the hoverboards in dorms and campus buildings due to the risk of fires. Ever since the hoverboard’s release, the news cycle has been riddled with stories of batteries exploding while charging. Many of the pre-installed batteries come from overseas and have not gone through the same safety checks as batteries manufactured in the US. Certain schools, such as Ohio State University, told students that they can only bring hoverboards to school if they have a seal showing that it meets certain safety standards.

Has this new tech already become a bust? “I think that hoverboards are really fun for the house when you have an area where there isn’t a lot of furniture around, but I have seen a lot of friends and family who have fallen off and if people were riding them in public with tons of obstacles I do not think it would be safe,” said junior Kristen Bringsjord.

As expected, hoverboards require lots of practice and a new rider could put themselves and others in danger. In fact, freshman Mirabel Mallett, fractured her foot while riding one.

“I fell, like riding a bike or scooter, and happened to get hurt,” she said. “Riding a hoverboard just needs to be done in a safe way and then it is really fun!”

Hackley has no official policy on hoverboards, but Upper School Head Andy King believes that hoverboards are an “an attractive nuisance,” better off left at home.