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A fidget spinner is a
With the rapid increase in the popularity of fidget spinners in 2017, many children and teenagers began using them in school, and some schools also reported that students were trading and selling the spinner toys.
As a result of their frequent use by school children, many school districts banned the toy. Some teachers argued that the spinners distracted students from their schoolwork. According to a survey conducted by Alexi Roy and published in May 2017, 32% of the largest 200 American public and private high schools had banned spinners on campus.
When fidget spinners rose in popularity in 2017, many publications in the popular press discussed the marketing claims made about them for people with ADHD, autism, or anxiety. However, there is no scientific evidence that fidget spinners are effective as a treatment for children with ADHD. They quickly fell in popularity and sales after peaking in May 2017.
A fidget spinner is a toy
A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...
that consists of a ball bearing
A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races.
The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...
in the center of a multi-lobed (typically two or three) flat structure made from metal or plastic designed to spin along its axis with pressure. Fidget spinners became trending toys in 2017, although similar devices had been invented as early as 1993.
The toy has been promoted as helping people who have trouble focusing or those who may need to fidget
Fidget may refer to:
* ST ''Fidget'', a British Admiralty tugboat
* Fidgeting, the inability to sit still for a period of time
* A fidget toy, a type of stress-relieving toy such as a fidget spinner
* Fidget house, a genre of Electro house
* F ...
to relieve nervous energy, anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...
, or psychological stress. There are claims that a fidget spinner can help calm down people who have anxiety or neurodivergences, like ADHD and autism. However, as of May 2017, there is no scientific evidence that they are effective as a treatment for ADHD.
Development
In October 2016, inspired by the ''Fidget Cube
The Fidget Cube is a small hand-held device designed by Matthew and Mark McLachlan, brothers and co-founders of the Colorado-based design studio Antsy Labs. It has fidget tools on all sides: a switch, gears, a rolling ball (marble), a joystick ...
'' Kickstarter campaign, Allan Maman used his Byram Hills High School
Byram Hills High School (BHHS) is a four-year co-educational public secondary school located in Armonk, New York, United States. It is the only secondary school in the Byram Hills Central School District, and serves students from the towns of No ...
s 3-D printers
3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer co ...
to make ''Fidget360'' with the help of his physics teacher, Eric Savino and worked with Cooper Weiss to promote the toy.
In an interview appearing on 4 May 2017 on NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, Scott McCoskery described how he invented a metal spinning device, ''Torqbar'', in 2014 to cope with his own fidgeting in IT meetings and conference calls. In response to requests from an online community, he began selling the device online.
Popularity and usage
With the rapid increase in the popularity of fidget spinners in 2017, many children and teenagers began using them in school, and some schools also reported that students were trading and selling the spinner toys.
As a result of their frequent use by school children, many school districts banned the toy. Some teachers argued that the spinners distracted students from their schoolwork. According to a survey conducted by Alexi Roy and published in May 2017, 32% of the largest 200 American public and private high schools had banned spinners on campus.
When fidget spinners rose in popularity in 2017, many publications in the popular press discussed the marketing claims made about them for people with ADHD, autism, or anxiety. However, there is no scientific evidence that fidget spinners are effective as a treatment for children with ADHD. They quickly fell in popularity and sales after peaking in May 2017.
Patent status
As of 2017, the patent status of the various fidget spinners on the market was unclear. Catherine Hettinger, a chemical engineer by training, was initially credited by some news stories as having been the inventor of the fidget spinner, including by media outlets such as ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', and the ''New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
''. Hettinger filed a patent application for a "spinning toy" in 1993 and a patent was issued, but Hettinger allowed the patent to lapse in 2005 after she could not find a commercial partner. However, a May 2017 Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Tele ...
article showed that Hettinger was not the inventor of the fidget spinner, and Hettinger agreed.
See also
*Fidget Cube
The Fidget Cube is a small hand-held device designed by Matthew and Mark McLachlan, brothers and co-founders of the Colorado-based design studio Antsy Labs. It has fidget tools on all sides: a switch, gears, a rolling ball (marble), a joystick ...
* Office toy
An office toy (also known as an executive toy or a desk toy) is a novelty item typically placed on the desk of a corporate executive or other office worker. They have no work-related function, but are often intended to provide decoration or pleasu ...
* Stress ball
A stress ball or hand exercise ball is a malleable toy, usually not more than 7 cm in diameter, which is squeezed in the hand and manipulated by the fingers, ostensibly to relieve stress and muscle tension or to exercise the muscles of the ha ...
* Top
A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be spun on its vertical axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect.
Once set in motion, a top will usually wobble for a few ...
* Worry stone
Worry stones are smooth, polished gemstones, usually in the shape of an oval with a thumb-sized indentation, used for relaxation or anxiety relief. Worry stones are typically around 3 centimetres in size. They are used by holding the stone betw ...
References
External links
* * {{Authority control 2010s fads and trends 2010s toys American inventions Executive toys Mechanical toys Metal toys Plastic toys Products introduced in 1993 20th-century inventions Toy controversies Internet memes introduced in 2017 Physical activity and dexterity toys Novelty items Sensory toys