Fidget spinners being sold at a neighbourhood shop. Pic: Qassim Rahmatullah / The Peninsula
Teachers in some schools have started taking measures to discourage students from carrying fidget spinner, a toy that has become immensely popular after recently rolling into the market.
Steps by schools include confiscating the toy if a student is found playing with it during class hours. These toys are very distracting and wean away students from lessons during lectures, the teachers told The Peninsula.
The confiscated toys have been handed back to schoolchildren after school hours with a warning not to repeat the practice.
If students fail to obey the instructions of teachers after repeated warnings, the toy, in many instances, has been tossed into the trash bin as a punishment.
“Almost every student in my class has a fidget spinner. Some have two and most of them bring it to school, a fifth grade student of a primary school in Al Aziziya told The Peninsula.
“Two days ago, my classmate was playing with it during class. The teacher warned her to put it back in the bag, but she ignored the instruction. The furious teacher snatched it from her and put in the garbage bin, said the student.
According to traders, the fidget spinner arrived in the local markets some weeks ago and reached the hands of children, youngsters and even the adults very fast.
The toy is available at almost every neighbourhood store, supermarket and shopping complex at QR12 to QR30 depending on the make and material used. The Peninsula noted that the price of the same fidget spinner differs from one place to another. Traders attribute this to demand.
“We started selling fidget spinner by the end of last month, a salesman of supermarket in Al Murra told The Peninsula. “In the beginning, the demand for the toys was very high. We sold upto 100 toys in a day at the rate of QR18 per piece, but gradually the sale has declined so we brought down the price to QR12," said the salesman.
“Fidget spinner emerged very fast in my school, said a teacher. "One day there were a few, and the next day there were more, and the next day everyone had them. They just appeared really fast."
