The Dangers of Fidget Spinners

Ciao lovelies! Today, as a follow up to my Slime Trend post, I decided to explain another side of the debate about fidget toys- Why the rising popularity is bad for people who actually need/use fidget devices as more than just trendy toys.

The most recent trend in stim/fidget “toys” has been the fidget spinner. I’m sure you all have seen the dozens of posts, YouTube videos, etc about Fidget spinners. One YouTuber ( MrBeast ) even streamed himself spinning a fidgetspinner for 24 hours straight. 

As you may already know from my Slime Trend post, I think that to an extent, having these things become popularized and normalized is great because people who use them for stimming or other mental health reasons aren’t shamed. But I think that the extent to which fidget gadgets are being popularized is actually harmful, and here’s why.

Unlike slime, which is a usually at-home type of thing, fidget spinners and cubes are portable. Some people do bring slime everywhere (like me), but many prefer an easier stim option like a fidget cube or fidget spinner. Since these things have become huge trends, many kids (most of whom view these gadgets as toys and don’t actually use them for mental health reasons) are bringing fidget spinners and cubes to schools. These kids make these gadgets distractions in the classroom, which makes teachers, and sometimes whole schools, ban them. Banning these gadgets makes the kids, whom these gadgets could help, unable to use them in an appropriate setting. 

For a personal example, I use what’s called a “Tangle”, it looks like this:

To help me focus in class. Since my hands are occupied, my brain can more easily focus on the class lecture, and I get higher quiz/exam scores since using it. I also use it to alleviate anxiety over exams and social anxiety from being in a classroom setting. It really does help. I would be devastated if tangles got to be a trend and then got banned because so many kids were using them and making them a distraction, because then I wouldn’t be able to use the gadget that helps me. 

The fidget spinner situation is turning into this.  And while it’s good to normalize these gadgets, sensationalizing them to the point where the people who actually need them can’t have them isn’t good at all.

 

So, to follow up on my other post, yes- I still believe that the slime trend is a good thing, I think the fidget spinner fad has gone too far.

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think about this whole fidget spinner thing in the comments below! Do you think it’s bad? Or do you like it? 

See you tomorrow!