Is There Any Place That Is Not Dealing with the Fidget Spinner Craze?

Fidget spinners (and now putty) drive me batty. I completely understand fidget toys to help students focus. However, the students that have the spinners, most just spin them (or on occasion throw them) still aren't working on the assignments. I am ready to fill up balloons with sand or rice and pass them out-and see who really needs a fidget. Oh and using other people's putty, gross.

They are quite popular here too. While I can see where they may be a huge benefit for some, I find that they are making fidigiters out of non-fidgiters. The novelty of them is ruining it for those that truly need them.

They're everywhere in our elementary where I sub a couple days a week. I HATE them and yes they are a distraction. Other teachers hate them as well.

I get the purpose of them for special ed but it has gone too far.

My kids know if I see it I take it and they get it back at the end of the day.

It's bad enough at the end of the school year to maintain the interest and lesson plan because kids are already checked out mentally.

I bought one for my daughter. She's 24. However, she has many, many medical problems (is medically disabled) and has anxiety and depression. One thing that she does is pick her fingernails (and I mean to the point where they bleed). This spinner, although it can be annoying, is helping distract her from picking, and she showed me she actually has a small amount of healthy nail growth on her fingers.

I was happy that I didn't have to worry about classrooms, etc, with her. She lays in bed when in a flare-up from her various medical conditions, watching a movie on her iPad, and that's when she used to pick her nails to the point of getting them infected. Now she spins that thing and can't pick.

So, I'm kind of glad the things exist, although my friend's daughter is a teacher and she's having lots of problems setting boundaries with the spinners. They were meant to be a tool for helping with concentration, focus, etc., but it seems, from what I've heard, that all the kids can have them in class. They're like a legal toy, and in many cases they're causing the opposite effect of how they were intended (they're distracting, instead of helping with focus). I see them being quite limited in classrooms in the near future. Maybe kids with concentration issues would be allowed a "spinning" break in a separate area, etc.

I wish they had not gotten so popular. We originally got one for my son because it helps him focus during class if he can quietly fidget with something under the desk. That was the original use for fidget toys, kids with issues like ADHD who need something to help them focus. Now, thanks to the craze, many teachers have had to ban them a cross the board meaning the kids who were helped by them can no longer use them as an aid.

It's a toy with a brilliant marketing campaign wish I invented it.😉

They're all the craze at our schools here. Sadly, all the kids bought them and they were driving the teachers crazy. Working in the classes, 3 days a week, I understood the teacher's plight. They became an insane distraction. Same thing at our neighboring schools. What did they do? They simply stated that you would need to have a medical condition for these or else they were considered toys and would not be allowed. The parents needed to write a note allowing these spinners. This decreased the spinners by 75%. Only the ones that "needed" them had them had them.

So far, it's mostly been kids with ADHD (that we know of) who have had them here. My son's friend for example has had one for a while. The kids know what they are but aren't asking to have them themselves.

My son came home about a month ago and asked for one. I had to look it up online. lol!
We ordered one for him and he is always spinning it. He does not take it to school.
My other two children saw my oldest playing with one and THEY wanted one too. We got them both one and they are often spinning it. They do not take it to school either.
My children tell me that a lot of kids bring them to school and the teachers are making them leave them in their backpacks during class time.

Fidget toys should be used at home and not in a school or learning environment due to distraction but some schools have fidget toys for special education children for better focus. I don't think it is a big deal as a parent I only let my child play with fidget toys at home.

not popular yet. i have only seen 2 in real life, saw pictures of 2 kids i know with them and thats it. my son didn't know what it was. so its starting to happen it just has not gotten crazy yet.

They are huge here for the last month or so. Middle school, elementary and even high school kids have them. They are definitely distracting in the classroom and should be viewed as a toy and not something to help a child focus!

I haven't really seen them here in Portland. As in, I haven't seen any kids or adults playing with them.

Sad that something which is supposed to be an intervention for kinesthetic learners is getting 'too' popular. Teachers really need to figure out how to allow interventions and normalize them. I made a basket full of dragon's egg (balloons filled with rice to squeeze) fidgets for my son's class and the teacher just tossed them instead of allowing a few kids to keep them (per their IEP?). I have noticed that in other situations, once the novelty wears off, many of the kids just move on to something else. I expect this will be the same. Sort of like the water bottle thing or any other silly trend. The kids who really benefit from them will likely keep enjoying them.

(My son often has a fidget nearby when he does learning work. It's so helpful for so many kids.)

Nope, not popular here. My middle schooler knows what it is, my elem kids do not.

They're really popular here. Our six year old has one, but he leaves it at home because they're not allowed in either of his schools. He plays with it maybe once a day. When he first got it, he was struggled to be able to use it. He now is quite good at doing tricks with it, so we try to use it as an example of how practicing something pays off.

I think that they became really popular here right when Pokémon cards were banned. In a month it will be something else.

I read an interesting article about the woman who invented them. She couldn't find someone to manufacture them. When it was time to do the patent, she couldn't afford the $400 fee. So she let it expire. The product is now wildly popular and she's not earning anything.

Yes, they are popular here. No, I don't let them take it to school. The noise drives me nuts. I can't imagine 20 at a time!

It's in high schools too and teachers/principals are banning it as a distraction and bother.
First time I saw one was at 7-11 - they were selling them on the checkout counter.
It's the latest fad.
Like pet rocks, trading cards, pogs, beanie babies, jelly band bracelets, etc - they come, they flash in the pan, and then they fall by the wayside.
It keeps your hands busy for awhile, but claims that it helps focus minds are not proven.

http://time.com/4775458/shoddy-science-behind-fidget-spin...

Additional:

Again - the experts are chiming in that these are NOT HELPING anyone with ADHD/autism/etc.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fidget-spinners-d...

"They are touted as miracle gadgets that can eliminate anxiety and even help people with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

But now experts are claiming that fidget spinners – the new sell-out craze of the moment – are nothing more than a cheap toy."

Yup, my 4th grader is begging for one. I have a feeling someone will end up getting one for his birthday next week and I am not looking forward to it. The only bright side is that I can't imagine the craze lasting too long...those things have to get boring soon, right??????