Fidget Spinners, the Phantom of the Classroom.

Fidget spinner

To teachers, fidget spinners are the new classroom menace. They are a constant distraction to the learning environment, but for kids, it's a completely different story. Kids carry them around where ever they go. Fidget spinners claim to help with anxiety and ADHD. Some fidget spinners in Amazon are called stress relievers. The problem is, there is no concrete evidence showing so.

Even if the claim about helping with anxiety and ADHD is true, most students that use fidget spinners don't use them in a stressful environment. Instead, they use them in places like the lunchroom, home, and during recess.

Fidget spinners are also dangerous. There are lots of stories that you can find saying that a fidget spinner can choke someone. The metal part can spring out when you spin it. A ten year old girl in Indiana accidentally swallowed the metal part and nearly choked to death.

The metal part vs Quarter

Who made it though? Michael McCrudden says that the fidget spinners were actually invented in 1997 by Catherine Hettinger. That means it took the fidget spinner 20 years to get popular, but Scott McCoskery said he invented it on May 4, 2017 on NPR. He said he invented it to cope with his own fidgeting in important meetings.

Right now, there are only 2 reasons why fidget spinners are good.

1. Kids get better at debating when they debate against the teacher. 
2. They have brought attention to the discussion about what CAN help anxiety and ADHD.