They’re small, brightly-coloured and spinning.
Nobody would blame you for mistaking these items for toys, but Fidget Spinners aren’t meant for playtime.
The devices are marketed as a tool to aid learning, reduce stress and physical tension. Held between one’s fingers, they are activated when flicked.
The idea is this flicking will use up the user’s additional “fidgety” energy, so they can better focus on the task at hand.
It's a great idea in theory, but discussions around the items reveal how they are quickly becoming more of a toy trend than a learning device.
One retailer is even selling spinners in the shape of Batman logos, Captain America logos and other recreational designs.
Parents are sharing their experiences with the devices on news articles published on social media, with many saying their children are asking for them on the basis of their popularity.
Listen: Before it was Fidget Spinners, it was Shopkins. (Post continues after audio.)
"My son wants one because everyone else has one, not because he needs one," one parent wrote on The Today Show's coverage.
"My kids want one I said no and no means no. They said all the kids in school have them. I told them, 'Guess what? You won't'," another parent wrote.
One parent alleged her child had been struck with a spinner after it was tossed by another student.
"I think when used appropriately they are good," they wrote.
"Last week, though, my daughter was hit by one because a student threw it. It gave her a deep bruise on her arm."
Top Comments
I was in my daughters class this afternoon swapping over readers and so many kids had those fidgit spinners. They did not seem beneficial at all, they were ridiculously disruptive. Kids flinging them around the classroom, shouting to eachother how well they could spin them.
I left that classroom with such a headache.
As if teachers don't have enough superfluous crap interrupting their teaching