By Noah Bellevue
The latest fad is a strange one indeed. “Fidget Spinners” as they are called are sweeping the nation and have recently entered schools, including MMHS, in gigantic numbers.
They initially were intended to help with attention deficit disorder and autism as sort of a way to keep your hands busy. But according to many teachers and a handful of students, they have become more of a distraction than anything.
The latest fad is a strange one indeed. “Fidget Spinners” as they are called are sweeping the nation and have recently entered schools, including MMHS, in gigantic numbers.
They initially were intended to help with attention deficit disorder and autism as sort of a way to keep your hands busy. But according to many teachers and a handful of students, they have become more of a distraction than anything.
The trend began a couple months ago when students with ADD began bringing them to school to help them focus during class. It wasn’t long before some other students without any sort of ADD started purchasing spinners and other fidget toys of their own and the problems really started to surface. While some claim it helped them, others saw it more as a fun distraction. Some going as far as to describe it as “mesmerizing.”
After a while spinners became so much of a problem that schools began to ban them. Much to the dismay of those who may have actually been helped by them.
It is only a few schools banning the use of spinners. It is still on the table and some have not considered a ban at all. It is still widely debated whether schools should allow them.
This has even lead some other news publications to report on the outbreak of spinners such as the Cape Cod Times, Washington Post, and even the New York Times. At first it seems like a silly thing to debate, that is if it were not for the fact that spinners could distract some children to the point of preventing them from finishing important school work, not to mention the spinners are everywhere across the nation. It becomes somewhat of a serious issue.
It is unclear how the craze started here in Mashpee. When asked who was the first person they saw using a spinner, most teachers accounts conflicted with each other. We can not say for sure where the trend started. When teachers were asked about the spinners, many described them as “annoying.” While large group of students do not agree with the use of spinners, a majority claim that the devices actually help. While many may actually just see them as a fun distraction, it may be safe to say that at least a very small percentage of students find it easier to focus while using a spinner.
A student who has actually been diagnosed with ADD said that they do not believe that the spinners work. She said that she preferred the close cousin of the spinner the “fidget cube,” basically saying that the cube has “variety” whereas the spinner just spins. Both of these fidget toys are supposed to be mindless, but it is as if the spinner is too mindless. As to whether the spinners should be allowed or whether they even work is still widely debated. But thus far it seems as though most people disagree with the usage of spinners.