Max Appell ’18
I’m here to express my issues with the next trend spreading rapidly across the country: the fidget spinner. These little plastic devices were made to help people who have trouble focusing, stress or ADHD. This seems like a great idea and very helpful, but they also are the worst thing to hit the Staples High School halls since Yik Yak.
I understand the concept behind the device and it can be useful, but once I heard teachers were getting involved in this craze by investing in their own fidget devices, that’s when I knew this needed to be addressed. I’d like to highlight some of the experiences I have had with these toys.
On any given day I’ll walk into class and find the twisting trinkets in the hands of all my classmates, spinning on desks or balanced on someone’s nose. People will then talk about their preferences on which spinners they like, where they get their spinners or how they have six more spinners shipping in today because one isn’t enough.
If people spent as much time on their school work as they do surfing Amazon for new spinners, they would have no need for them.
But the spinning doesn’t stop at school; if only it did.
When I come home from school I can hear my brother and his friends on the floor above me “roasting” each other because their “fidget spinner game is weak.” Now even though I am not surprised these words come out of their mouths and I am humored by them, that initial chuckle quickly dies. I’ve woken up before and the little rascals have balanced spinners all over my body. It seems to be the funniest thing in the world to them but I’m fed up.
While I despise these gadgets, they are truly is an ingenious creation. The idea is so basic yet holds the interest of the entire country. I think the popularity has partially to do with the advertising. They are literally everywhere; from social media, to online ads, posters and I’ve even seen bathrooms vandalized with fidget spinner carvings.
The scariest part of this all is that I am being sucked into it. Just a few days ago my friend left his spinner in the library so I grabbed it with the intention to give it back to him. But I found myself sucked into its simplicity for the rest of the day. I even contemplated keeping it and pretending like I never picked it up. At first, I didn’t realize that I had become a prisoner to this toy’s mind games. But later that day I realized the amount of time I had wasted I came back to my senses. I knew I couldn’t let this obsession do what it had done to so many others I care about.
The solution to this madness is, sadly, just time. Once there is a new fad, this one will end, and believe me when I tell you I can’t wait to see that day. So for now, I will tolerate the fidgeting.
