New fidget spinner craze has teachers in an almighty tizz
IN THIS week’s parents’ newsletter for Agape Christian School in Roodepoort, there was special mention made of a new craze driving its staff mad: fidget spinners – and fidget-spinning obsessed learners.
“As I’m sure you’re aware, fidget spinners are the latest craze and are driving us crazy.
“We don’t mind learners bringing them to school, but they are not allowed to bring them into class.
“We also cannot be responsible for any loss or theft. We will not even entertain complaints in this regard.”
Around the world, fidget spinners – children rotate the small ball bearing devices between their fingers – are the “new craze that’s got the world in a spin”.
In South Africa, they’re flying faster than they can spin off toy shelves.
Touted for from as little as R40 to a whopping R350 apiece, they now come as glow-in-the-dark versions, Ninja stars and in superhero-inspired shapes.
But more and more schools are banning the “hottest playground toy” in the classrooms – or entirely.
One upmarket private school in Joburg recently sent an SMS to parents: “No children are permitted to bring cellphones, any gadgets, toys, fidget spinners or iPads to school. They should be left at home.” It resent the SMS this week. A staff member at Parkhurst Primary School told the Saturday Star: “We’ve confiscated a lot of them because the children are using them in class.
“We don’t promote them at school. It’s always something, isn’t it,” she quipped. “Next month, it will be something else.”
There are concerns over safety fears. Yesterday, customs authorities seized 200 000 inferior products in Ireland, citing choking fears.
A 10-year-old girl in the US reportedly needed surgery after she swallowed a part of a spinner and it became stuck in her oesophagus.
On Facebook, teacher Susanne Mostert tells how she banned it in her class.
“They are so focused on their spinners that they don’t focus on me or their work,” she said.
Yet fidget spinners have also been hailed as a remedy for anxiety, autism, trauma and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
That’s how one local Pretoria business describes them: as a “great toy for fidgeters, anxiety, focusing, ADHD, autism, quitting habits, staying awake”. It sells them for R250 apiece.
But Carla Grobler, an occupational therapist, doesn’t think they’re beneficial, writing “these new fidget spinners that are taking South Africa by storm have little therapeutic meaning”.
Autism South Africa, meanwhile, has directed parents to blogs that advise how to make their own fidget spinners.
NIcky Dickson, a member of ADHASA, believes the novel toys do have benefits.
“The repetitiveness of spinning calms anxiety.
“I would think it has the same value a child with ADHD benefits from sitting on a Pilates ball, which allows them to rock backwards or forwards.
“It’s that repetitive motion that is beneficial for the children.” Adults, too, are in on the craze. Forbes has described fidget spinners as the “must-have office toy for 2017.”
Yesterday, billionaire Elon Musk tweeted about them.
And then, there’s this: Fidget spinners clinch the top 14 places on Amazon’s list of best-selling toys.
Number 15 is a fidget cube. – Sheree Bega