(Notice how I chose the spinning coin icon for the thread...)

Lol anyway, in my area and probably all across the United States, fidget spinners became an extremely quick trend. They were intended specifically for people with ADHD and Autism to use to have something to stimulate them and make them less distracted. It reminds me of my elementary school days when my teachers had me use a squishy thing (don't know how to describe it, I remember nothing) to avoid fidgeting a lot with my pencil and other objects on my desk.

Are you one of the many who own a fidget spinner? Regardless of whether or not you own one, do you think it actually helps people become less distracted/fidgety? Or does it actually flip the situation like how people still flip water bottles (like me)?

I own a green fidget spinner that my friend...

PokeGO+MarioFan :

(come back! I'll get you back here during the summer...)

...got me for 4 bucks I think it was. I wanted one for its intended purpose: to help me have something to do when I become restless and distracted. Using it for fun is something I do often too, but thankfully I'm not addicted to it like some people I know are I think it isn't helping people become less distracted just because it's a huge trend. My classmates like showing them off and I can get distracted by that since I like watching them spin.

Fidget Spinners do NOT combat ANYTHING. They are a simple dumb toy and a fad. If you have ADHD, get a Fidget Cube.

Spinners are obnoxious, loud, annoying, and if anyone uses one, they should feel bad.

They aren't ok.

Are the helping people who are easily distracted? I seriously doubt it. It's a toy. Why would a toy help someone focus on what they need to be doing?

With that said, I still want one. Not really because everyone has one, I couldn't really care about that. I just like simple toys like that. Slinkies, spinning tops, Beyblades, Yoyos, even just holding a coin on it's edge and flicking it and watching it spin. I don't even know why I find it entertaining. I just do.

yoshirulez! : yeah theyre very distracting but i think the point is more about combating stress than distraction

and pac i have a green one too. only have one because my mom won five of them for hitting a bullseye at a fair lol

Fidget spinners, cubes, whatever, they are 100% useless.

Unless you have ADHD. Then they might help you, but it's not a guarantee.

Shame it's a fad. Most schools are banning them now. So the kids who need them can't use them.

m0ssb3rg935 : I think the makers figured that if someone is studying, they should have something to hold onto and use while they're studying so they get less bored and therefore less distracted. That would be more reasoning why I wanted one if I thought about that at the time.

I understand what you mean about liking simple toys. I'm the same way with my basketball and soccer ball. Even if I'm not doing anything with either of them, it's nice to watch it roll or hear it hit the ground. I'm easily entertained by things like that.

-Drew- : Yeah I think they would help more with stress too. My fidget spinner is a good thing for me to have when I need to get stress out. I'm not the type to forcefully spin it fast and then break it just to relieve stress.

I should have expected fidget spinners to be given out as prizes by now, regardless of what country they're in. That's cool that it allowed you to have one though. Honestly, a big reason why I love them is that they allow for some joking and bonding with friends and other people at school. We see who can spin theirs the fastest and which one lasts the longest. We also say things like, "Don't make me spin this on your head!" They make for some amazing entertainment that way XD

legacyme3 : Yeah, for some reason my school district hasn't banned them at the high school yet, but they did for the middle school. One guy in my English class told his friend spinning one that this trend needs to be done already. I can see why in that class; students who don't have a fidget spinner take them and use them for an entire class period. It's weird to watch that happen.

I won't claim to be the demographic that this is marketed to, but it's pretty simple marketing. Make people think that this will somehow help them and they will buy it like crazy. Kinda like the shake weight or extended warranties.

When you think about it in the most simple form. How is a bright shiny object that spins in any way going to make you focus on anything other than the Fidget Spinner Itself? If one asks themselves this question honestly, you will already have the answer. That it's a silly fad to get a ton of people to talk about it and purchase an item that it cost them a few cents to make.

All I know is, whomever started making these in huge quantities is CASHING IN right now.

Pacman+Mariofan : yeah my sis already "invented" a new game she and i play with it. i dunno if she actually invented it tbh, maybe someone else already has because it's not all that complicated. she did think of the idea on her own though. on our fidget spinners only one of the "handles" or whatever they're called has a black thing on it, so we spin them as fast as we can and then try to catch the odd one out lol

Jordanv78 : I keep wondering how rich the makers of fidget spinners are right now XD

-Drew- : That sounds fun. PokeGO+MarioFan invented a game where you simply try to stop the fidget spinner by touching one of the 3 black ends. It isn't as easy as it sounds, which makes it a decent thing to do actually.

How does a toy help combat distraction? I have to give my child a toy just so I can change her diaper, otherwise she'll crawl her poopy butt across whatever I'm changing her on! All jokes aside, its really the context of which its applied, what is the situation. If you're in a normal classroom setting, you shouldn't be playing with toys and your focus should be on the subject at hand. If you're in special education, then yes, that's where unorthodox exceptions should be made based on a child by child basis. Part of school is teaching children the rules, seeing as that's a big part of the real world. So really it should be banned in schools, there are already other proven and less distracting methods. Its about your well-being and everyone else.

tornadocam : As I mentioned before I have mild Autism, so that's why I wanted one. I thought they hadn't gone too far until I saw the light-up ones. I'm disappointed that they made those in the first place.

I watched a YouTube video from YuB where it didn't take much time for all the parts of his spinner to fly off. They nearly hit the camera a couple times too XD

Overall, I think the basic ones with simple design and higher functionality are the best. They last longer than the light up ones or fancily designed ones from what I've witnessed.

My mom is planning on getting me one and yeah, I would like to know too! I have "played" with one before, but I wasn't really doing any work at the time so I couldn't tell if it was combating my A.D.D. or not. Remembering from when I was spinning it, no, I don't think it would help combat distraction or at least my extreme case of distraction!

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PoptartSlayerXD : Oh, cool! Yeah, I think they're mostly useful for being a boredom buster instead of a distraction-destroyer However, I hope you find some use out of it to help you focus anyway. Just spin it away from where you can see it and you're good!

They are perhaps the most annoying thing in existence, I want whoever invented them to rethink thier life choices that led them to make such a thing.

Quoting a video I saw "From the creators of the wheel comes: The Useless Wheel"

Boured : I'm only annoyed with fidget spinners if so many people are using them in the same room and/or they're fighting over them. Oddly, the sound doesn't bug me but its excessive popularity kinda does. Nice quote, it brings up a good point XD

Fidget spinners are a distracting toy. There have been studies that show they do not help kids with ADD/ADHD/Autism concentrate better. I want them to be banned from all schools. Many people at my school use them and they are extremely distracting not just for the person using them, but also from anyone nearby. I especially hate people who spin them and touch the spinners to objects to make noises. Making loud noises is not going to help you concentrate.

I f***ing hate these things.

They are more of a distraction more than anything and should be limited in usage in public places.

I made a post about this in a different thread but will make a shorter one in this in case the other was not seen

I think that in the hands of right people they do. I personally found them rather helpful due to the fact that I have anxiety and another disorder I don't talk about. The only reason I found them helpful was not because of the hand movement and fidgeting, but because of the weight of them. I like stim toys with weight to them because they help keep me "Grounded" and are rather soothing to my anxiety, When I am in a stressful environment like a classroom they help me to function like a normal student because the weight makes me feel safe

fidget spinners are unfortunately lost to the people who they once helped because they became a trend, and kids who don't need them started to get them. I have had some kids take mine for no reason other than they wanted to play with it, and caused both me and them to get no work done because a kid that does not need it will not use it right.

For kids that like to fidget with their hands, the cubes are much better and less popular, so they won't distract the kids around them

for people like me who need the weight, there are things like weighted blankets for at home, and stuffed animals that are weighted for when you need something smaller and more discreet to stim with.

for neurotypical kids, they don't need stim toys at all. they just ruin it for the people that need them like me.

catbert225 : After seeing my mentor use his fidget cube and him having me try it out myself, I can agree that they are more helpful to actually eliminate distraction. I like that they make clicking noises, I've always liked clicks.

And the noise fidget spinners make gets annoying pretty quickly with certain ones. My sister decided that her most important souvenir from Disney World was a Minnie Mouse light-up fidget spinner. My parents and I both gave her "the look" (I'm practically her 3rd parent XD).

One thing I don't like about fidget spinners becoming such a huge trend is that some people buy them in bulk and re-sell them to profit from it. A friend of mine was actually doing that, and I hope that he doesn't now that he has a job.