# Explain to me the allure of Fidget Spinners **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 4, 2017, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882 "2017-05-04T23:43:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/101 "2017-05-24T21:06:06Z")
Geez, don’t kids play with their slide rules anymore? Lots of good fidgeting with those. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/102 "2017-05-24T21:30:37Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Geez, don’t kids play with their slide rules anymore? Lots of good fidgeting with those. Those are curios, now… ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/103 "2017-05-25T05:50:49Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Now [these fidget spinners are interesting](https://www.google.com/search?q=fidget+spinner&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=svin&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjay_iR4tnTAhUIrFQKHRAYAI4Q_AUICygD&biw=768&bih=928#imgrc=rXN9R2JmOSyKfM:) – ninja stars and stealth tools… Aww, gee! I was decades ahead of my time, spinning ninja stars between my fingertips and all that back in the late 1970’s. Then I started spinning them with the points on my fingernails and the teachers started getting pissy. I got suspended and now it’s a fad?! :mad: –G!?! ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/104 "2017-05-26T22:41:16Z")
If I end up teaching next year, I will have serious restrictions on such items. I had a student that had a fidget toy in 6th grade, and it really helped him, but there are plenty of items students can use to create chaos in the classroom. One kid gave another student a black eye when he threw eraser bits around the room. Of course, his mother was certain her angel would never do such a thing, so I had no way to stop him. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/105 "2017-06-17T14:28:00Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > So you don’t like selling things at your store? Perhaps sales shouldn’t be your field. > [@Skywatcher](#): > > Try “doesn’t like customers ‘go[ing] ballistic’ at her about things she has no control over.” Right. I absolutely hate the idea that “the rules don’t apply to me.” It’s five per customer, and I have to get the manager’s approval for any number above that. A couple bought 50 of one toy, came back and returned them and then tried to buy 50 fidget spinners. The guy went crazy when the manager refused to let him buy them. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/106 "2017-06-17T19:06:58Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Now that I know what they are, I’ve revised my rule slightly: if they’re distracting the user or the neighbors, it goes away for the rest of the day. So far, that rule seems to be working. Heh–someone just linked to this thread, and I saw this post. So, an update: within the week I’d banned them. Coincidentally, this was around the time that Youtube videos with tricks started becoming popular, and kids were watching the videos and elbowing other kids during lessons to show them what they’d learned to do. I have no problem with fidget devices as a concept, but the ability to do tricks, to buy fancy new models as prestige items, to trade them, made these anathema to instruction. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/107 "2017-06-17T19:09:24Z")
They’re fun little toys. That’s it. Pretty cheap too. I was in Hong Kong in April, and they were selling them for around $2 US equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/108 "2017-06-17T19:17:49Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > and kids were watching the videos and elbowing other kids during lessons to show them what they’d learned to do. You teach 3rd grade, right? Please tell me that they weren’t doing [this](http://gizmodo.com/at-the-end-of-the-nsfw-fidget-spinner-rainbow-this-guy-1796061042) one. Added spoiler tag for NSWF content (though pixilated). — Ellen ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/109 "2017-06-18T15:19:35Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > You teach 3rd grade, right? Please tell me that they weren’t doing [this](http://gizmodo.com/at-the-end-of-the-nsfw-fidget-spinner-rainbow-this-guy-1796061042) one. Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882/111 "2017-06-20T19:27:59Z")
> [@fidgetwizard](#): > > I was reading through \this article\ and got to know about the fidget toy craze. You guys might find this interesting. That’s not an article. It’s an ad. The only people claiming that these are helpful are the people selling them. Behavior experts say the opposite. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-me-the-allure-of-fidget-spinners/785882.md?page=5)