Fidget spinners, small toys that spin on a bearing centre, are the bizarre new craze dominating the internet and playgrounds across the globe. I’ve seen them used to play bass guitars, smash phone screens and people have supposedly got arrested over them. Hundreds of YouTube videos - many by children - detail ‘tricks’ and ‘hacks’ you can do with them, but despite the fun everyone is having… I just don’t like them.
In some ways, this trend could have been incredibly positive. Advertised as a way to improve focus for people with ADHD, autism and anxiety, their popularity could have helped normalise self-stimulatory behaviour in a classroom environment, leading to less stigma and a new topic which neurotypical and neurodivergent people could bond over and gain friends from. On the surface fidget spinners are a wonderful thing. But unfortunately, what sounds nice in theory has turned sour in practice.
My main issue with fidget spinners (and other popular stim toys such as fidget cubes and slimes) is that they are taken out of context and viewed as toys rather than aids. If many children are playing with a new ‘toy’ in a lesson rather than concentrating on the work, the teacher has very little choice other than to ban the item causing the disruption. While this poses no serious issue to the neurotypical children playing with it out of boredom, it could be more of an issue for an autistic child or a child with ADHD; the object that was helping them focus is suddenly out of their reach, and if it was a comfort item to soothe anxiety then that could cause even more distraction for them. The other option is, of course, to allow children who ‘need’ the fidget spinners to keep theirs, but when they are a desired object it could cause conflict and resentment (as other children may be jealous).
Many articles have also surfaced about the toys, claiming in their headlines things such as ‘fidget spinners do not help those with ADHD’. While the article’s content cites experts, who rightfully say that they ‘aren’t a quick fix’, ‘don’t work across the board’ and ‘have not been evaluated in proper research’, the headlines can be seen as misleading; since most people will read an article’s headline and move on, it could very easily spread misinformation and further cement the fidget spinner’s status as a ’toy’, when in reality it can be used help some (but not all) people with anxiety and sensory overload.
Like any other craze, the enthusiasm for fidget spinners will fade out, and they will soon become old, boring and uncool. And while no serious damage has been done by them, I can’t help but look forward to the sunny day when someone puts them in a ’Top 10 Worst Trends’ video, and we can finally bury them in the playground fad graveyard.
(Also, from a personal perspective, they’re not even that good! Shifting the weight by tilting your fingers when it’s spinning can be a little shimmy, but it’s a very bland, one-dimensional stim toy in my opinion)
What do you think about fidget spinners? Do you get why they're a trend?
What do you think about fidget spinners? Do you get why they're a trend?
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