Hamas War

Saturday, May 27, 2017

"Fidget Spinners" Dangerous Con

I first came across these "fidget spinners" a few weeks ago at work. I'm a teacher and teach in a boys high school. Most of my students are of normal intelligence and suffer various learning and attention deficit problems. And they are very easily distracted. 

One day a couple showed up with this spinner, and it was the center of attention. It mesmerized them had them hypnotized but not on the lesson. Not at all. As it spins around, all eyes are on it, and when all eyes are on something like that, nobody is capable of paying attention to the lesson. The lesson was effectively over before I could even begin teaching.

BBC

So, the next time a student came it with it. I managed to confiscate it promising to return it after the lesson. And then I was able to teach.

This spinner has become very popular, but nobody has any proof that the claims are legitimate. The only thing for sure is that they are dangerous:
Incidents involving a popular child's toy known as "fidget spinners" are being investigated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission after two separate reported cases of children swallowing parts of the gadget sparked concerns.
"CPSC is investigating the incidents with kids swallowing fidget spinners in Texas and Oregon," the agency wrote in a statement to ABC News. "We advise parents to keep these away from young children because they can choke on small parts. Warn older children not to put fidget spinners in their mouths."
Fidget spinners are a stress-relieving toy advertised as a way to help people focus.
Scott Kollins, clinical psychologist and director of the ADHD program at Duke University, said there is no evidence to support claims of the benefits of fidget spinners.
“There has been no research into the efficacy or safety of these toys to help manage the symptoms of ADHD, anxiety, or any other mental health conditions in children (or adolescent, or adults, for that matter),” Kollins told ABC News.  (Yahoo.news)
It's clear that there are people making very good money from these toys. I hope they will be quickly banned. Besides the distraction in class, most are shoddily made, and pieces fall out, and are too easy to swallow. 

2 comments:

Yehuda said...

Pieces are small and can easily be swallowed. Hmmm...
Same thing is true of Lego, and of many Fisher Price toys. Perhaps they should all be banned also?
How about just campaigning that kids (and the adults who supervise them) should be careful?

Batya said...

Always
But the extra danger of the spinners is that the pieces that fall off are round which look more like candy and easier to swallow/choke on, Gd forbid.