Don’t look too closely at the three-pronged thingamajigs all the kids are toting around these days. You might dizzy yourself.
This trending product in the middle- and high-school age groups, the fidget spinner, is meant to boost attention and ward off stress, much like a sand-filled squeeze ball. They’re a sort of mental goose; one which many claim keeps kids from texting in class.
But as is the case with any other fad, local specialty shops are the true beneficiary.
According to Chelsea Garland over at Josh’s Toys and Games inside the Cape Cod Mall, the store can barely keep them on the shelves.
“Nobody wants just one,” she says. “We have stickie notes lining our walls of people who have put in a request for different colors, ones with LED lights and glow-in-the-dark spinners.”
Garland says the store only started selling them a month ago, but their very first shipment sold out within a few days. The same fate was true of each box ever since.
Josh’s sells models which cost $14.99, but Garland mentioned she’s seen them between $6 and $25. Online, buyers can find finely-detailed metal models which ring in for over $50.
On the local scale, this one store sells hundreds per month. Globally, it’s in the tens of millions.
Are Fidget Spinners a Boon or Bust for Focus?
Fidget Spinners are truly a point of contention in academic environments across the Cape and across the nation. Many schools banned them outright, while other policies just block their use in the classroom.
Garland says those policies miss the point entirely.
“Anything can be a distraction for kids, but the Spinners are more than just a twiddler,” she said. “As long as they’re introduced as a tool for tempering other distractions, they’re ok.”
Garland owns one herself – she became interested in the doodads after her son talked extensively about them. She’s even bought one for her husband. It’s a family affair.
Nail biting used to be her vice, but Garland says that keeping the spinner in her hands has nearly eliminated the habit. Similarly, she says the faint hum of the spinner in action helps her read and retain what she sees on the page.
Teachers across the nation have taken to the internet with varying opinions on Spinners. Some say it helps their students with passive attention activities, like watching a dense documentary or listening to a lecture. Others say the cheaper models make noise and create too much of a spectacle in the classroom.
Many children are afflicted with a short attention span, but most modern science suggests the problem could be solved with a little extra activity time. It’s well-known that outdoor time keeps kids in greater physical shape, and some studies have also pointed to the superior attention-saving benefits of play- and tinker-time. Some teachers regularly use pre-lecture stretching as a means of centering their students’ attention.
But both the toy shop clerks and educators agree: classroom regulations regarding spinners need to balance the needs of distraction-prone students with those around them, who just might fixate too much on that slight humming sound coming from two desks down. Cheaply-made, noisy spinners which are liable to break and drop bouncing ball bearings all over the place are a clear threat to learning in the classroom.
Origin of the Fidget Spinner
Catherine Hettinger, based in Florida, came up with the idea for these toys nearly two decades ago – but to date, she hasn’t made a penny off of them. She held the patent on them until 2005, when the $400 renewal fee was simply too much for her to pay.
Apart from their conjectural attention benefits, their use as a toy skyrocketed via the internet. YouTube users began uploading videos of tricks they machinated after spending some time with the toys.
By CapeCod.com Staff
