Some teachers banning fidget spinners from classrooms

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Are fidget spinners - popular with school-age children - a tool or a toy? That's the question being asked by parents, school administrators and psychologists. 

But many teachers say they're just a distraction and want them to stay out of the classroom.

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They're said to help kids, particularly those with ADD or ADHD, stay focused.

Benjamin Kantor is 11-years-old and is one of the thousands of kids who bought a fidget spinner, and he has the tricks to prove it.

"They are really fun things to do when you're bored or have nothing else to do," he said.

Benjamin's brother and dad also have them.

"Instead of going to the default, going to a phone, checking social media, you spin that around. It's almost relaxing," said Robert Kantor.

Other fidget devices exist, but the spinners are the rage now. They're getting so popular among kids, some schools are telling parents to keep them at home, including Benjamin's school, Villa Madonna Catholic in Tampa.

The use of these spinners could be considered a catch-22.

"Movement for some people - it activates their brain. It turns their brain on," said licensed psychologist Dr. Wendy Rice.

Dr. Rice points out the spinners often become more toy than tool, especially at school.

"If a kid is really spinning it and doing math and reading, more power to them, and if they can use it like that at home, but I'm concerned about using it in a classroom," Dr. Rice said. "You're using it now, to me it's visually distracting."

Most of the Bay Area school districts have not banned fidget spinners. Hillsborough County said administrators at each school can make that decision, and a few have asked students to leave their spinners home.