Fidget spinners for children: benefit or harm

This is some kind of global insanity. Yesterday, no one had ever heard of spinners, and today on YouTube there are entire channels dedicated to this mysterious thing. Yes, there, even Ivan Urgant appeared in his show with a spinner in his hands, and Forbes magazine called the toy "a mandatory office accessory - 2017." "Today, all kinds of what they found, bought and bought," says one saleswoman of the shopping center of the other. Apparently, the child requires. So what is it? Why is it your child? And, most importantly, is it not harmful?Photo:GettyImages The full name of the toy is fidget spinner, which literally means "fidget toy." It was invented by Catherine Hettinger, a chemist by training. She received a patent back in the 90s of the last century. According to one version, she made it specifically for teenagers who have nowhere to put bad energy - like those who recently threw an explosive package into the sewer in the Primorsky Territory. In another interview, Katherine said that she built a toy from scrap materials so that her daughter had something to play with: Hettinger's child has a rare disease that causes specific muscle fatigue. The girlfriends saw the toy, they liked it too, and so it went into the world. The spinner is arranged quite simply: in the middle there is a stationary part, and the outer one can be rotated around its axis. The weight of the individual parts is selected to ensure free rotation, which is maintained for as long as possible. In general, you can even assemble yourself, as Catherine did in her time. The toy is positioned as anti-stress. Several reputable publications have already written about the properties of spinners. The portal put them in order and gave the advantages of the device. 1. Develops fine motor skills. As all parents know, a lot is connected with it: memory, ingenuity, even speech. Works as an anti-stress to help you focus. They say it even relieves the fear of flying. It's all about repetitive movements: they can calm even a child with an autism spectrum disorder. And much better than smoking. 3. Helps children with hyperactivity disorder and perception problems - along with kinetic sand and other sensory toys. 4. Relieves muscle tension from long hand work: writing lectures, typing, driving, etc. 5. Help children to get distracted from gadgets. 6. Eliminates annoying habits: snapping fingers, banging on the table, biting nails. The latter is especially true for children. However, teachers differ on the usefulness of spinners. Many schools in the United States have already banned them. That is, play to your health, just not in the classroom. This is also the opinion of some Russian specialists. Elena Nikolaeva, medical psychologist:- Spinners can be a distraction,a snag. They do not solve problems and do not relieve a person from a stressful state. Often, children do not know how to properly use these devices, and switch their full attention to them instead of keeping them in the background. This may distract them from more important matters of study. In terms of the development of fine motor skills and logic, it is better to use various puzzles, a Rubik's cube, a snake, etc. One of the advantages of a spinner is to kill time. But isn't it better to spend this time with benefit? You can draw, sculpt, build, embroider, ride a bicycle, roller skates, go for a walk, play sports. There is another opinion. “I allowed one of the students to use a spinner. I bought it myself. And the guy has a severe form of ADHD and behavioral problems that prevent him from learning with other guys. It is hard for him to sit for a long time. And with the help of a spinner, he was able to release his energy without disturbing his classmates. On the day he first sat in a spinning class, I was totally delighted. He sat quietly. He listened. He participated in the discussion. All this time, the spinner did not stop, ”said special education teacher Rebecca Po. In addition, there is a study that showed that people who draw lectures, draw scribbles, remember 29 percent more information than those who just listens. "As a medical therapy as a doctor, I would not have appointed him," says Dr. John Bender, a family doctor. “However, there is no evidence that spinners are harmful.” Enough full research on this issue is not at all. However, for people with attention deficit suffering from increased levels of anxiety, with autism spectrum disorders, they can be helpful. But one should not expect miracles from them. ”So no one is ready to give a universal recipe. We'll have to try. If you see a spinner distracting your child more than helping him, do not allow him to take him to school with you. And if it helps to concentrate, then why not let the child twirl the toy while he is learning physics or poetry. In any case, one thing is for sure: it is not harmful. True, there are a lot of terrible stories about how the spinners maim children. But scissors can also cripple, if you do something stupid with them. However, no one forbids scissors. How to use a knife at the table. S. Before our correspondent started writing this material, his child did not have a spinner. But soon it will be - in the process of preparing the text the author ordered it in the online store.P.P.S. It is cheap fijget spinner: from 50−100 rubles. True, the range of prices is quite wide. The cost of a toy can reach up to 2–3 thousand rubles.