Fidget Spinners

[MHDNURSE]

Are these wreaking havoc in your schools yet??? Here in MA they are EVERYWHERE and getting banned from schools left and right.

[kidzcare]

I work in a preschool and no kids here have them. But my own children have them. My oldest daughter has 3 and my son has one (he does have ADHD, she wants to play). I told them to not be distracting with them. I also have a fidget cube that my son sometimes brings to school.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

Yep. And stores at the mall are advertising them - and they now have ones that light up!

I support fidgets for students that need them and find they actually help. But the students that need them are told if they are used inappropriately they will loose the privilege at my school. I have a growing collection of small bouncy balls, actually, because of this. Fidget spinners are being passed around all the time with my MS kids and have added to distractions vs. lessened them because other students want to watch the spinner "spin" or they have contests to see who can spin it the longest.

I fear it is growing into a fad. And that may not end well.

PS: the fidget cube has worked well when used how it should be for some students with ADHD. And it makes very little noise that is hard to notice in the classroom overall.

[shark_nurse14, BSN, RN]

We have them everywhere! Those, and "stress balls" (homemade balloons filled with who knows what). It's starting to become cool to have a Drs note stating ADD/ADHD/Anxiety requiring a fidget for school. Some teachers have been allowing them with just a note from the parent- nope! If I see it, I take it away and call parents

[WineRN]

I have seen quite a few of these and here is my beef: for the students with ADHD a fidget can be a real helpful tool in the classroom. The children without ADHD who are bringing them in are making it an issue and causing them to be banned. Now the student with ADHD is left without their tool for learning. Why, kids, why? I have tons of these in my school and most of the ones I see with them are not dx ADHD. Not fair for the neurodivergent.

This is exactly how I feel too. I have one student who got one a few weeks ago and it's helped her TREMENDOUSLY. I had one of my diabetics come in and tell me her mom was getting her one, and when I asked if she really NEEDED it (no ADHD dx, already great student) and she said "no but I really want it". I called her mom who told me she just thought it was a toy.

[MrNurse(x2), ADN]

I have a student who falls asleep in class repeatedly and, while we're trying to find the root cause, she's allowed to chew gum, play with her fidget thingies, and sit on an exercise ball. She's the most envied kid in school.

I have a student with the same issue, Hashimoto's Thyroid, sleep apnea, controlled and is still doing this. Narcolepsy wu @ Hopkins was inconclusive. Such a sad situation.

[OyWithThePoodles, RN]

My diabetic kiddo just showed me his spinner, convenient.

He said "They are supposed to be for mental kids." (eyeroll) ((my little box with smiley's is gone -sad face)

[OyWithThePoodles, RN]

We have them everywhere! Those, and "stress balls" (homemade balloons filled with who knows what). It's starting to become cool to have a Drs note stating ADD/ADHD/Anxiety requiring a fidget for school. Some teachers have been allowing them with just a note from the parent- nope! If I see it, I take it away and call parents

The counselor here made a ton of homemade stress balls. She had a bunch left over and gave them to me to use as ice pack (DO NOT FREEZE THEM). Ours are filled with little gel balls which bust after you freeze them, but they work well in the fridge. Perfect for the eye injuries.

[kidzcare]

Those, and "stress balls" (homemade balloons filled with who knows what).

The counselor here made a ton of homemade stress balls. She had a bunch left over and gave them to me to use as ice pack (DO NOT FREEZE THEM). Ours are filled with little gel balls which bust after you freeze them, but they work well in the fridge. Perfect for the eye injuries.

My kids wanted to make homemade stress balls and we did last summer. Filled them with flour. Then one was left in the backyard and eaten by the lawnmower. Flour everywhere.

[halohg, RN]

Banned in my PK-2, but don't tell my principal that mine is sitting on my desk

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

I just had 3 students visit me while spinning one this afternoon.

[MikeyT-c-IV]

They were banned from the school my kids attend. I've received two emails in the past two weeks asking children to please not bring them to school. They are allowing them with rare exception such as for special needs kids.

[Nurse in MT]

YES!! We just received an email that said they are not allowed in 5th grade and they are banned in middle school (6th-8th). We have a technology teacher that sells them for $5 as a fundraiser on Mondays.