‘Spinner’ Toy is Making Teachers and Parents heads Go ‘Spinning’?
‘Spinner’ Toy used by children and youth are making Teachers and Parents heads Go ‘Spinning’? This toy is ‘Worrying Parents’ and ‘Annoying Teachers’?- but the shop owners are making money, while these toys are selling like hot-cakes.
Mangaluru: Exit Pokemon Go-Enter Fidget Spinner! If you don’t have kids, you’ve probably never heard of the fidget spinner, and you don’t have to worry about it. But if you do, you may have recently been dragged by your children to a toy store, or a petty shop or just about any corner store, to purchase this latest must-have gadget. Fidget spinners, made from plastic or metal with a bearing in the center and several prongs that spin around it, are intended for mindless play while working or sitting in class. It is learnt that Fidget spinners are being billed as a cure all for stress, ADHD, autism, and anxiety- but scientists aren’t so sure.
Even though they’ve been around for years, but only recently they exploded in popularity — worrying parents and annoying teachers so much some schools have even banned the toy. As one teacher blogged, “The only thing my students seem to focus on… is the spinner, itself, and not their work. It’s like a friggin’ siren song.” According to Google trends, online searches for fidget spinners began spiking in April. The inventor of the device can’t explain the surge in interest (though it may have something to do with the mesmerizing YouTube videos of fidget spinner hacks and tricks). Just months after the ‘fidget spinner’ first whirled its way into the hands of antsy youngsters, some schools are planning to ban it as told to Team Mangalorean by a Principal of a CBSE school — prompting a debate about difficulties children experience concentrating. The Principal said that one out of ten students are seen playing with this toy- and teachers have complained that some use them during class hours.
Other day while walking up the stairs to our office, I saw a bunch of students spinning a toy- out of curiosity I asked them what that toy was- and “Fidget Spinner” came the reply from these PUC students of Milagres PU College. When I asked how the toy works, Aslam, one of the student said, “All you have to do is spin it and you can do all sorts of tricks. Pokémon Go is dying and fidget spinners are the new cool thing.” Next day morning I witnessed more High school and PU students of Milagres coming to Ronny’s Stationary Shop in Milagres Mansion asking, “Uncle, Uncle give me a Spinner”- and Uncle Ronny replies, “What color do you want- Red, Black, White or Green?. And the students pick their favorite color, with Muslim students liking the green color – and reach their pockets to pay something between Rs 85-Rs 95. I think this price is kind of cheap at Ronny’s shop, while compare to other places where the ‘Spinner’ is sold between Rs 100-Rs 150, depending on the quality.
Decades ago, we all grew up in a world where the yo-yo and the hula hoop were widely popular. Today’s current obsession amongst kids and youth is the fidget spinner. A fidget spinner is a gadget with a bearing in the middle that allows it to spin. They’re made of metal or plastic and feature two or three prongs that blur as they twirl. You hold it between your fingers and spin or twirl it. Marketed by companies as a gadget to help people who have conditions like ADHD, autism, stress and anxiety, these little gizmos are believed to stop fidgeting and help them to focus better. Manufacturers have also advertised it as a possible remedy for smartphone addiction – so one gadget to get over the addiction of another.
Children have started carrying it to their school. While the teacher talks, the kids spin these between their fingers to break the boredom of the lesson. Is that good? Of course not. Instead of helping them to focus and stop fidgeting, it’s become a trend and kids are using is show off about the number and types they have. Even though the devices are being marketed as a panacea for everything from stress and ADHD to anxiety and autism, but for children and youth they use it just for fun, thereby spend hard earned money of their parents. The basic idea is that spinning the toy in one’s hands helps increase focus. But, as is too often the case, there’s little science to back these claims up. No one’s ever studied the impact of fidget spinners specifically on mental health or cognitive functioning. And the related research here isn’t all that promising either.
Sources reveal that, for example, there is some evidence that encouraging children with ADHD to squirm and move their limbs can help direct their focus rather than making them sit still. But that study looked at kids’ physical activity, not a small spinning device that barely requires any movement. And kids without ADHD didn’t benefit from the extra squirming. Many say that the devices may do more harm than good. Using a spinner-like gadget is more likely to serve as a distraction than a benefit for individuals with ADHD, since it takes attention away from what kids/youth should be focused on.
Interestingly, the inventor of the device, Catherine Hettinger, as quoted in a magazine stated that fidget spinners were actually conceived as a way to keep kids out of trouble — not as a mental health aid or ADHD treatment. Hettinger got the idea while visiting Israel and watching children throw stones at police officers. “[Fidget spinners] started as a way of promoting peace,” she had said. That seems like a worthy goal, though the chances of the toys promoting peace seem even more remote than the chances they’ll help treat ADHD.
As for the breathless worry among parents about how fidget spinners might undermine kids’ learning, there are probably bigger threats to focus we should be worrying about, like cell phones.What’s your take on the fidget spinners? Are your kids hooked on to them, too? Share your comments on our blog and tell us if you find them useful and aiding in concentration or something of a distraction for kids!