Katie Tan, Reporter
From Nintendos to Furbys to now Fidget Spinners, the toy trends are constantly changing. As the new hottest fad of 2017, you’ve probably heard about the piece of plastic that either makes you roll your eyes or reach into your backpack to grasp your own. Originally, fidget spinners were designed as stress-relieving toys that are marketed towards children with ADHD or ADD. Now, they are taking classrooms by storm and conjuring up a variety of emotions. Not only has the fidget spinner taken over New Canaan, it’s popular worldwide. Fidget spinners have dominated Amazon and taken over the best sellers toys list. So why are these innocent little toys getting banned from schools?
Schools all over the country, including New Canaan’s own Saxe Middle School, are starting to ban fidget spinners due to the distraction and irritations created. Some teachers are agitated by this childish toy and others are optimistic to this possible solution to antsy students. Ms. Greco, NCHS history teacher, gave her perspective on the effects of the gadget on the classroom and has noticed a theme of distraction among high school students. “I don’t think they help with anything and I do think that they can be more distracting because other kids want to see what other kids are doing with them,” she said.
As a mother of two middle schoolers, Ms. Greco has a love-hate relationship with fidget spinners. Her children, like most middle schoolers, have asked for their own fidget spinners for a while. “I thought it would be beneficial to my son because he does fidget and I told my kids if the teacher allows it then they’re fine,” she said.
The fidget spinner phenomenon has hit high schools as well. Freshman Sofia Delicata now owns five fidget spinners. “I got a fidget spinner in the beginning because I wanted to be cool like everyone else, of course. Everyone had them, they loved it, so I thought I would give it a try,” she said.
Sofia has tried out the range of materials spinners are offered in from ceramic to metal. As entertaining as they can be, she feels as though they don’t benefit her in class when it comes to focus. “I think that it definitely does not help me in class. Mine are kind of loud so if I’m taking my rips everyone knows,” she said.
It’s pretty hard to understand why spinning plastic between your fingers is amusing, which was exactly how I felt. Since it’s not considered a game you’d expect it to get boring very fast. If it wasn’t for this assignment, I would have never even touched a fidget spinner. Then in class I started playing with my friends and now I own one. I spent $8.50 on this thing. Now I type twice as slow with one hand while the other holds the spinner. Frequently, I have to stop all together to spin again. There’s just no explanation for the satisfaction of fidget spinning, but I guess now I can say I finally understand the trend.
