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Can someone explain this spinner fad?

Strangelove77 said:
It's just some stupid fad.

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What's wrong with main Janna? I used to like to play with her a lot (this is like 8-9 years ago), her "get the fuck out here" ultimate was awesome :(
 
I find that fiddling with a pen helps me focus, the majority of the children I've taught since these have become popular say that the spinner helps them focus. Those that are jumping on the bandwagon will probably get bored of them before September.
 
nynt9 said:
lol not at all. There is no evidence that shows that these things actually help. It's just snake oil.
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There's evidence that shows fidgeting helps with ADHD, and it falls into the current understanding of the mechanisms of ADHD pretty well, though there's no evidence that fidget tools get the same benefit yet.

Personally, I think those fidget cubes would help focus, and the spinners would hurt, but I wouldn't discount those that say spinners help.
 
Ha, I was going to make a similar thread about a week ago. I substitute teach and I saw them for the first time 2 or 3 weeks ago. Then about a week later, I stumbled across a YouTube video about them.....and they were apparently the next "big thing".

But since then, I've only seen maybe 2 or 3 students with them. One of my students has ADHD and I permit him to use it during class (it would just spin on his desk while he did his work). Any other time, I treat it like a cell phone: if I see it, I take it. But like I said, at least at the schools I go to, it's not like everyone has them.

But I don't get two whipped up about them. I remember when I was a kid and we had all kinds of stupid gadgets that annoyed the teachers. It's the circle of life.
 
Plenty of research on how things such as stress balls can help. For example http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ853381.pdf

The issue with spinners that I see when I am working with kids is that their eyes focus on them. Fidget cubes, stress balls, putty, a pen to click or twirl around, a lock to pop open and close, and the like can be done without looking at them.

Now not for spinners, but for other devices like those fidget cubes. One good thing about these "fads" is that it helps lower the cost of them overall because they become mass produced or at least no longer need to be special ordered at one of the few stores that sells them like so many other medical or psychology tools and devices for personal use.
 
The dude who shared a double-width desk with me in fifth grade had a homemade half pipe on his side.
This long before Tech Deck. It was less than a year after fingerboards first showed up in a skate video.
The teacher didn't care, which was weird because she was a mostly a hardass.
 
I just had to explain this fad to some of my family members..... They all had, like, 5 minutes of fun with this and moved on. The kids didn't even care after that.

All in all, do what you want.

I messed with it and was done with it within the first minute :/
 
I work at a clinic for kids with behavior issues, and "fidget" devices are pretty common... used to be mostly the cubes but now the spinners are everywhere.

The sad thing is schools are banning them and now kids that actually could get some benefit from them can't because they became a fad with everyone
 
I wanna be able to do that pen spinning thing but with a knife. and also not cut myself. I know...dream big.

Pestilence11 said:
I feel horrible for the woman that invented them but couldn't afford the $400 patent renewal or whatever.
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isn't it 7/10 times the person that discovers or invents a thing is not the person who gets rich from the thing? the one who benefits is the one who sells it best.
 
Spinners were designed for special needs kids who needed a focus point to control their anxiety or ADD or whatever else was causing them trouble focusing in school.

Then, typical kids thought they were cool just to play around with and exploited the whole thing. Now schools are banning them and the kids that really need them can't use them.
 
When I was a kid, in the 70s, we had Ker-Bangers or Clackers (like pop vs soda), which were too hard balls each on the string with a ring at the top. You'd pull them up and down and they'd crash together and bounce back

They were very hard and heavy and were banned because they were dangerous. You could also throw them like bolas.
 
I remember when yo-yo's almost made a comeback with those auto return "brain" one's! People were spending like $50 and up on yo-yo's!
 
I bought a cheap one of these at a local 7-Eleven on a whim just to see what the big deal was. I can sort of understand the appeal, but then it wore off.

I will say that I wish I had one of these when I quit smoking a few years ago. Would have been great to have when I had really bad cravings or as a way to handle the need to find something to do with my hands instead of smoking.

But when I see parents - including many of my own friends in my age group (40) - defend them by pointing to the shady, psuedo-science marketing, I can't help but facepalm. I thought my generation was better than that but apparently falling for snake oil salesman tactics happens to everyone eventually.

I'm glad some schools are banning them and teachers are taking a stand against them. I try to imagine what the reaction of my high school teachers back in the early 1990's would have been had I had claimed that my fingerboard and metal slammer pogs were necessary for me to focus in class. I figure the reaction would have been somewhere between an eye roll or outright laughter followed by having them taken away.
 
DiscoJer said:
When I was a kid, in the 70s, we had Ker-Bangers or Clackers (like pop vs soda), which were too hard balls each on the string with a ring at the top. You'd pull them up and down and they'd crash together and bounce back

They were very hard and heavy and were banned because they were dangerous. You could also throw them like bolas.
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Yeah, you old, you made that point across boards.
 
MGrant said:
Kids like toys, some brilliant marketer found a way to make it acceptable for kids to bring toys to class under the guise of being a "fidget reducer." Back in my day we had these:

Code: 
[img]http://www.wikihow.com/images/b/b1/1080-Tailgrab-on-a-Tech-Deck-Step-4.jpg[/img]

without any of the "it helps you focus" bullshit. Yeah, it helps you focus... on the piece of plastic and metal you're spinning. It's something every teacher is dealing with right now.
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yessir
 
I am interested in a fidget cube more than these. Seems better for my pen click bitey tendancies
 
Kenstar said:
wish we were smart enough to pull some 'it helps me calm down' nonsense as a reason to keep our gameboys in class
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Back when I was in elementary school I had a teacher who had 2 Nintendo gamecube 's In the back of the classroom.

Best teacher and school year ever!
 
So what's that these are? A friend of a buddy of mine whipped one out when were at a bar a couple of weeks ago. I was like "Wtf is this" and he spun it and showed me. I didn't get the appeal at all but then at one point they went out to smoke and I sat and spun it and zoned out to it. But also I was lit.
 
When strolling in to a 7-11 this morning after being up for over 24 hours I bought one of these because of this thread.

If you're using two hands you're doing it wrong.

This is clearly a children's fad.

Between home state and corporate HQ state not a single person had one of these. Even during our off site conferences with hundreds of employees, reps, and customers not a single person had one of these.
 
I see kids with them all the time.

I don't get it either, but being a fan of games and a member of a gaming forum I am not going to judge anyone's harmless activities.
 
One of my coworkers as gone from holding it in the air and spinning it to now placing it on his desk and then spinning it. I'm gonna fight this guy.
 
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