Article about spinners. What are useful and harmful spinners? Dependence on spinners does not threaten alcoholics

spinner is new antistress toy, which flooded offices, classrooms, university classrooms and public transport. The general craze for unusual fun is comparable to the once forgotten Tamagotchi, Tetris and yo-yo. Children and teenagers are spinning the spinner with the same enthusiasm as they were catching Pokémon a few months ago.

Like any newfangled thing, this gadget has many opponents who claim that it is not only useless, but also dangerous. Editorial "So simple!" figured out why the spinner got into the rank harmful toys.

What is a spinner for?

A spinner, or, in the original, a Fidget Spinner, is a small symmetrical object with a bearing in the center. One press on the bearing sets the toy in action and it begins to rotate around its axis.

Is spinner good for kids

Research has shown that repetitive activities help children with attention deficit disorder to concentrate. You can click with a pen, draw in the margins, or you can twist the spinner - the effect is about the same.

What's unusual

If we consider the design itself, then this is a piece of plastic or metal with a bearing in the center. Its main advantage is its compactness. Therefore, such a toy can be taken anywhere: school, travel, office.

Parents sound the alarm

The popularity of the spinner is starting to work against the gadget. The main opponents of the toy were teachers. They claim that students are so engrossed in spinning, flipping, and doing tricks that they can't focus on their lessons.

Moreover, these gadgets can be deadly for children. This was told by Kelly Joek from Texas, whose daughter almost died after accidentally swallowing a small part from a spinner. It was possible to extract it only with the help of an operation. The woman spoke about this on her page on social networks to warn parents.

Experts say that spinners are not suitable for children under 8 years old. And if the parents still decide to give the child a turntable, then they should be careful. Indeed, due to children's curiosity and carelessness, even innocent fun can turn into an injury.

Just as the yo-yo toy used to be popular, now the spinner craze is exponentially spreading. Sellers position it as an anti-stress toy. Do psychologists agree with them? We decided to find out what is more in the newfangled hobby - good or bad.

This is some kind of global insanity. Just yesterday, no one had heard of spinners, and today YouTube has entire channels dedicated to this mysterious contraption. What's there, even Ivan Urgant appeared in his show with a spinner in his hands, and Forbes magazine called the toy "a must-have office accessory - 2017."

“Today, I found and bought all the kinds that I had,” one shopping center saleswoman tells another. Apparently, the child requires. So what is it? Why is it for your child? And, most importantly, is it harmful?

Photo by 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 Primorsky Krai. In another interview, Catherine said that she built a toy from scrap materials so that her daughter had something to play with: the Hettinger child has a rare disease that causes specific muscle fatigue. Girlfriends saw the toy, they also liked it - and so it went into the world.

The spinner is arranged quite simply: there is a fixed part in the middle, and the outer one can be spun around its axis. The weight of the individual parts is chosen to ensure free rotation, which is maintained as long as possible. In general, you can even assemble it yourself, as Catherine did in her time.

The toy is positioned as anti-stress. Several authoritative publications have already written about the properties of spinners. The GeekTimes portal streamlined them and cited the advantages of the device.

1. Develops fine motor skills. As all parents know, a lot is connected with it: memory, quick wit, even speech.

2. Works as an anti-stress, helping to focus. They say it even relieves the fear of flying. It's all about repetitive movements: they can even calm 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-term hand work: writing lectures, typing text, driving, etc.

5. Children are helped to distract themselves from gadgets.

6. Eliminates annoying habits: snapping fingers, drumming on the table, biting nails. The latter is especially true for children.

However, the opinions of teachers about the usefulness of spinners differ. Many schools in the US have already banned them. That is, play to your health, but not in the classroom. Some local experts also think so.

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 don't know how to properly use these devices and turn their full attention to them instead of keeping them in the background. This can distract them from more important things, study. In terms of developing fine motor skills and logic, it is better to use various puzzles, Rubik's cube, snakes, etc.

One of the advantages of a spinner is to kill time. But isn't it better to spend this time to good use? You can draw, sculpt, build, embroider, ride a bike, rollerblade, walk, play sports.

There is another opinion.

“I allowed one of the students to use the spinner. I bought it for myself too. And the guy has a severe form of ADHD and behavior problems that prevent him from studying with other guys. It's 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 when he first sat in class with a spinner, I was completely delighted. He sat quietly. He listened. He participated in the discussion. All this time, the spinner did not stop,” said special education teacher Rebecca Poe.

In addition, there is a study that showed that people who draw, draw some kind of doodles during lectures remember 29 percent more information than those who just listen.

“As a medical therapy, as a doctor, I would not prescribe it,” says Dr. John Bender, a family doctor. - However, there is no evidence that spinners are harmful. Sufficiently complete studies on this subject do not exist at all. However, for people with attention deficit, suffering from increased levels of anxiety, with autism spectrum disorders, they can be useful. But don't expect miracles from them."

So no one is ready to give a universal recipe. Will have to try. If you see that the spinner is more of a distraction than a help to your child, don't let him take him to school with you. And if it helps to focus, then why not let the child twirl the toy while he is studying physics or poetry. Anyway, one thing is for sure: it's not harmful. True, there are a lot of scary stories about how spinners cripple children. But scissors can also cripple if you do stupid things with them. However, no one forbids scissors. How to use a knife at the table.

P.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. The fidget spinner is inexpensive: from 50-100 rubles. True, the price range is quite wide. The cost of a toy can reach up to 2-3 thousand rubles.

Hello dear readers!

You may have noticed that recently a new toy for children has appeared - spinners. Children, teenagers, deftly twist the spinner in the same way as in our childhood they caught butterflies with nets.

And my granddaughter asks to buy such a toy. After all, now it’s like that in children, I saw someone - and also wanted to. On YouTube, entire channels are dedicated to this toy.

What kind of toy is this? What are the benefits and harms of a spinner.

What is a spinner?

A spinner, or in the original Fidget Spinner, is a small device with a bearing in the center. You press it and the toy rotates around its axis.

What are and how they are arranged

The spinner is arranged simply: in the middle is a fixed part, and the outer part rotates around its axis.

The weight of the toy is small, which allows you to carry it with you, take it on a trip. Spinner - has a flat shape, 3 protrusions with weights.

spinner models:

There are simple, plastic, neon, light-musical, aluminum.

The main supplier of such a toy is China.

Who Invented the Spinner?

Fidget spinner toy, antistress toy.

The toy was invented by Katherine Hettinger, a chemist by training. She received a patent for a toy back in the 90s. I made a toy specifically for teenagers who have nowhere to put their bad energy. According to another version, Katherine made a toy out of scrap materials for her child, who had a rare disease that causes muscle fatigue.

The benefits and harms of a spinner

Initially, the spinner was intended for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to help children concentrate their attention.

Research has shown that repetitive movements help children focus.

Spinner Benefits:

1. Develops fine motor skills, attention.
2. The toy acts as an anti-stress, helps to relax and distract from problems.
3. Helps with hyperactivity.
4. May reduce muscle tension, such as from long manual work.
5. The rotation of the spinner helps children get rid of bad habits:, a pen, drumming with their fingers.

Playing with a spinner is not only child's play. Adults can also relax a bit by watching the device rotate.

There are many stressful situations in our lives that can negatively affect our health. Such a toy will help to distract from bad thoughts, relieve panic, anxiety.

And the harm of the spinner?

Children take a toy to school, get distracted in class. The teachers are not happy.

Children spin the spinner in their hands. Not all stunts end well. The child may get hurt.

Therefore, advice:

Experts do not advise buying a toy for children under 8 years old.

If you have purchased a spinner, be careful that the child does not harm himself.

If you see that the child is busy only with a toy, do not allow him to take it to school.

Medical psychologist Elena Nikolaeva writes her review of the spinner: “Spinners can be a distraction, a trick. They do not solve problems and do not relieve a person from stressful conditions. Often children do not know how to use the device correctly, they switch all their attention to it, instead of doing more important things and studying. In terms of developing fine motor skills and logic, it is better to use puzzles, a rubik's cube, a snake. One of the advantages is to kill time. Wouldn't it be better to put it to good use? You can draw, sculpt, build, embroider, rollerblade, bike.”

Here are some reviews about the spinner. To buy such a toy for your children or not - the choice is yours.

And you can also make a spinner with your own hands. After looking video on the channel »Workshop on the rainbow’', you can make a simple toy with children without bearings.

Do your children have such a toy? Write in the comments your opinion whether children need such a toy or not.

Share information with friends.

Best regards, Olga.

The spring-summer of 2017 sees a real peak in the popularity of a children's spinning toy, known as a “spinner” or “fidget spinner”. Pravoslavie.fm magazine tried to figure out what kind of gadget it is, how safe it is for children, and whether it really has a therapeutic effect in certain types of diseases.

Spinner is...

A spinner is a spinning toy held by the fingers. In the center of the spinner there is a metal or ceramic bearing, several blades / wings or weights are located radially, which are selected in such a way as to keep the mechanism rotating for the longest possible time. The toy is made of various materials - brass, stainless steel, titanium, copper, plastic, wood, etc. The material and design of the bearings affects the duration of rotation, the type of vibration and noise produced, creating sensory feedback.

Usually spinners have a three-lobed shape with a bearing and finger holders in their central part, but there are also bi-spinners, uni-spinners and other mechanisms of various shapes and colors, and other variations of this toy, for example, mechanisms with luminous or noisy during rotation petals.

The standard spinner is well shown in this video:

Origin of spinners

There are several versions of the origin of the toy, which converge only in terms of its appearance - the beginning of the 1990s and the approximate place of invention - the territory of the United States.

The first version says that the spinner was a collective invention of a group of American educators working with children suffering from a number of mental disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, who were looking for a way to increase their concentration and help them calm down.

The second version was published in the spring of 2017 in mastodon publications such as: The Guardian, New York Times and New York Post. In them, the authorship of the toy was attributed to the American Katherine Hettinger, a chemical engineer by training, who invented and patented “a device of a round shape made of soft plastic, with an extension in the center for holding by fingers and with a rim.”

Ms. Hettinger herself did not insist on her authorship, and attributed the idea of ​​​​invention to various sources: either the desire to reduce the aggressiveness of street boys seen in Israel, or the desire to entertain her daughter, who suffers from pathological muscle fatigue syndrome.

Finally, another version attributes the creation of the spinner to the American Scott McCoskery, who created a spinning device to cope with the excitement during important negotiations.

Once upon a time in the USSR...

An effect similar to the effect of spinners was noticed in the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War, according to AiF correspondent in Omsk and blogger Vadim Andreev in one of my posts in VK: “In the army, I once lay in a hospital and in this Ufa institution for soldiers, a drunken doctor worked as a janitor. I remember that his name was Edgrad. He was aged, smoked a pipe and possessed simply encyclopedic knowledge in almost all areas. And, most importantly, he was a great storyteller of wonderful stories, of which he had an incredible amount.

Once, we were dragging small boxes on the street - in the hospital, all recovering and slightly ill patients worked. And from one box, through the slot obtained by careless unloading, bearings fell down. Edgard took one of them, put it on his finger and twisted it. And the story followed, how his teacher at the Moscow Medical Institute, a front-line doctor with great experience, participated in the evacuation of a psychiatric hospital at the beginning of the war from somewhere in Ukraine to the East.

Obviously, war. Everything around rumbles, the Germans are already nearby and the planes are ironing the retreating almost every five minutes. Psychos are afraid, they cling to everything and it is impossible to pull them out. And then the doctor-teacher saw a box left by someone in a hurry. in which the bearings were located. And so he quickly distributed the bearings to the mentally ill, put them on their fingers and showed them how to twist them. Mentally ill people were simply fascinated by the action and easily allowed themselves to be led and put into cars.

Edgard said that his teacher was the same doctor who later described this experiment in a scientific work, showing that in some cases idiots need to close, loop their consciousness so that the head does not give birth to other thoughts that lead to unexpected actions.

And now I’m walking the streets and I see these very “fascinators” - spinners in the hands of almost all the children. I remember that story with the distraction of idiots. And somehow I don’t feel like myself…”

Spinner Popularity

Despite the fact that spinners were invented about 25 years ago, they were not particularly widespread and popular until the beginning of 2017, when the demand for them increased by several orders of magnitude, which indicates the artificial promotion of the mechanism to the masses and a very skillfully conducted marketing campaign.

Assumptions about the artificial “promotion” of the toy are confirmed by objective data: on December 23, 2016, James Ploughk from Forbes, in which he called spinners “a must-have office toy in 2017.” At the end of March, video hosting users YouTube started uploading videos in which they performed spinner tricks, as well as discussing the possible uses of this device, everyday situations related to it, and the harm or benefit of spinners.

At the same time, The Boston Globe reported that spinners “entered the mainstream,” and according to Money magazine, the popularity of spinners grew even more significantly in April 2017, judging by user requests to search engines. Also on the Amazon service, various models of spinners took all the places in the list of the 20 best-selling toys.

In May-June 2017, the spinner epidemic moved into the Russian media, as well as into the Russian-language segments of social networks and search engines. During May and June 2017, only Russian users of the AliExpress online store received 3,000,000 requests for the word “spinner”. Representatives of the trading giant said that the number of spinners sold in Russia made the Russian Federation the second largest market in the world after the United States. Indeed, spinners are increasingly seen on the street in both children and older people.

Therapeutic benefit or marketing gimmick?

Many toy retailers market spinners as a therapeutic toy for children suffering from a range of illnesses. It is noted that spinners can serve as a focus for autistic children or children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Some studies have shown that repetitive activities help children with attention deficit disorder to concentrate. You can click with a pen, or you can twist the spinner and annoying factors will fade into the background.

Many sellers and the media point to the possible positive effect that spinners have on the development of fine motor skills of the fingers and coordination of movements (when performing tricks with a toy), as well as the calming and distracting effect of the mechanism for irritable and seriously ill children or children with disabilities.

Opponents of the toy already call these messages a “cunning marketing ploy” and cite situations when children swallowed toy parts, suffered from poisoning or various forms of skin irritation when in contact with spinners made of poor-quality and harmful materials, or even attacked peers with a toy (in the USA ), attaching blades and other sharp objects to the petals of the spinner.

In Russia, Rospotrebnadzor has already begun to check the effect of toys on children's health, and also recommended that parents not purchase spinners in unspecified places and not buy them from your hands, as well as pay attention to the material from which the toy is made, which may not meet mandatory safety requirements, especially when buying through foreign online stores, Gazeta.ru reports.

Experts say that spinners are not suitable for children under 8 years old. And if the parents nevertheless decided to give the child a turntable, then careful observation of their leisure time is the main condition for safety, since it is common for inquisitive children's minds to come up with the most non-standard uses for everyday objects for adults.

Expert opinion

The opinion of the involved experts regarding the new toy was divided. While some talk about the possible harmful effects of using the toy, such as distraction from lessons or possible negative consequences when used inappropriately, others, as well as device manufacturers, note a beneficial developmental and calming effect.

U.S. News & World Report quotes two occupational therapists interviewed by WTOP-FM, Katherine Ross-Keller and Steven Poss. According to Ross-Keller, “spinners are great tools for children who need them, but only when the child follows the fundamental rules set by the educator.” Steven Poss disagrees with a colleague: “In my opinion and the opinion of the teachers with whom I spoke, spinners are just toys ... Anti-stress devices should allow you to focus on the teacher. Fidget spinners are visually distracting and I think that's their biggest downside."

Olga Serebrovskaya, Deputy Chief Physician of the Speech Pathology Center, provided an expert opinion for TVzvezda.ru: “I think that a toy should, first of all, carry a developing function. And any thing that is given to a child and does not develop him, and possibly has the opposite effect, is, of course, harmful. Such toys, when a child monotonously performs the same actions for hours, can lead to certain changes, even changes in the state of consciousness. This is very harmful to the child's psyche, and therefore I believe that such toys should be banned not only as having no developmental potential, but also as potentially dangerous for the development of the child's psyche.

Dean of the Faculty of Psychology at TI (f) MSUE, PhD in Psychology, Associate Professor Tatyana Popkova shared her assessment with readers of tvernews.ru: “At the moment, we are witnessing the total dominance of these toys of various forms. From the position of psychology, in my opinion, this toy has no developmental or therapeutic effect for mentally healthy children and adults. If, of course, the child spins the spinner on his leg, head or nose, then, of course, in this case we can talk about the development of coordination, that is, these are some tricks, physical exercises.

Do not believe publications that claim that spinners have any anti-stress effect. These are just publicity stunts by PR managers to stimulate sales growth. In our country, such mass hobbies for similar toys periodically occur: “Tamagotchi”, plastic springs, various gadgets, etc. Yes, there is no particular benefit from them, but also harm.

Sometimes, to calm down, a child can sort out some beads, details, turn something in his hands. This is an indirect substitution for a neurotic state; it may even become fixed as a compulsive action. ... In such a situation, you can turn the spinner, but you need to understand that through manipulations, fine motor skills, the internal state is simply reflected, it is, as it were, projected onto an external object. But this does not solve the problem at the root - the neurosis will not go anywhere. So do not expect a miracle from spinners that a problem child will become calm.”

Opinion of Pravoslavie.fm magazine experts

Priest Rodion Petrikov , a full-time cleric of the Pokrovsky Cathedral in the city of Krasnoyarsk and a psychologist-consultant of the department for the prevention and rehabilitation of addictions of the Krasnoyarsk diocese, sees something artificial in the company against spinners, and considers the toy itself rather useful: “Some kind of incomprehensible excitement has arisen regarding spinners ... My children play with spinners and I don't see anything like that.

At the same time, I have a boy with whom I work, he suffers from meningoencephalitis. He barely walks, barely moves his arms, he has contractures of both arms. At the same time, he has nine spinners. He regularly practices them and, I just see, it develops fine motor skills in him.

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong here, at least I did not notice. It can be somewhat addictive, because a person has a craving to play all the time, but I think that for children under the age of twelve or thirteen, this is nothing dangerous. This is the best alternative to tablets with which a person does not move anything at all, only his eyes ... Therefore, I don’t see anything wrong here.”

Nikita Sergeevich Yanochkin , a clinical psychologist at the Novosibirsk Regional Clinical Narcological Dispensary does not see a particular positive effect in spinners, but also does not note any serious negative ones: “As far as I know, no serious scientific studies have been conducted to date that the use of a fidget spinner helps fight stress or improves concentration, as claimed by fashion toy sellers around the world.

In fairness, it should be said that when a person twists something, twirls it in his hands, it calms him down a little, but this effect is only of a short-term nature. In my opinion, the effect of a spinner on a child's psyche is akin to the effect of a spinning top known to everyone in Soviet times. A slight hypnotic effect is possible, but nothing more. I am sure that the fashion for spinners will soon disappear as quickly as it arose.”

Summarizing what has been said

As you can see, expert opinions vary. There are opinions both “for” and against the “spinner”. But in essence, the spinner is too simple a device to be harmful. The spinner is just a toy... An ordinary toy, without a double bottom and harmful intentions. Another , quite innocenthobby of children and youth, which can sometimes even be useful.

Of course, you should monitor the correct use of the device, because you can injure yourself with anything, even a plate, slipper or light bulb. And caring parents should also pay attention to the quality of the toy attention. But the appearance of a spinner in a child should definitely not cause panic.

Andrey Segeda

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Every year, new mega-popular children's toys appear on the market. The hit of 2017 was anti-stress spinner toys. These little turntables conquered not only children, but also adults. However, every day more and more information appears on the Web that spinners can be dangerous, especially for children. We decided to learn more about this toy - here are 3 depressing facts that will make you refuse to buy a spinner.

At first glance, the spinner looks quite harmless - it is a small symmetrical object, in the middle of which a bearing is placed. It is due to him that the toy spins. The creation of a spinner was planned for autistic children and children with attention deficit disorder However, it has become popular all over the world. Children and adults forget about their worries, mindlessly scrolling the bearing in their hands. It seems to be nothing dangerous, but then why are more and more scientists and experts saying that children should not buy this toy? Let's figure it out.

Reason #1. Spinner distracts children from studying

Oddly enough, the subject, which is supposed to soothe children with certain diseases, healthy children distracts from everyday tasks. As noted by one of the American scientists, Dr. Louis Kraus, there have been no special studies that the spinner increases concentration in ordinary children. This means that everything that manufacturers promise us is unconfirmed, and possibly erroneous data.

Teachers around the world have sounded the alarm, saying spinners are interfering with children's learning.. Instead of being interested in new information, children begin to compete with each other in performing various tricks - they twist a toy on the tip of their nose, on their forehead, on their finger. Naturally, this competitive moment distracts them from the main task - study. Schools in the United States are gradually beginning to ban the use of spinners to class, as they interfere with children's concentration. Also, the level of conflicts between students has increased - they often argue about whose gadget and whose tricks are cooler.

Reason number 2. Spinner can hurt your child

On the net, you can read about cases when children were injured by a spinner while trying to do intricate tricks. For example, an Australian boy at the age of 11 almost lost his eye while trying a newly invented maneuver - he did not catch the spinner, and when it fell, it injured him.

There was also a case where the little girl was able (!) to disassemble the toy herself and swallowed a metal bearing. Small parts of a disassembled toy are very dangerous in the hands of babies - if a particle enters the respiratory tract, it can be fatal. Therefore, experts are quick to point out that children under 8 years old should not be given a spinner. Curiosity and thoughtless actions of kids can lead to tragic consequences.

Reason number 3. Many spinners contain hazardous substances

Due to the great popularity, the toy has a lot of low-quality analogues from China. If a plastic toy smells bad, chances are it contains the dangerous chemical phenol, which is especially harmful to children. Also, after some research, it was found that the plastic parts of the spinner may contain lead and mercury that are dangerous for children. Therefore, the task of parents to be careful when buying this toy. It is necessary to check the label, composition, country of origin and the certificate number confirming its safety and permission to be sold in the category of products for children.