Silly Bandz are a growing trend among teenagers and kids across the country. Silly Bandz are gummy bracelets that come in a variety of shapes, letters, and objects.
What is unique about this trend is its popularity among young children to young adults and among boys to girls. They come in collections. A few of the most popular themes are underwater, patriotic, musical instruments, the wild west, fast food, and mythological.
As fun as they may be, some principals across the U.S. are banning them from schools because they are becoming a distraction for students during class. Although Arrowhead doesn’t have much of a concern, elementary schools as well as middle schools, and high schools in Florida, Texas, New York, Alabama, and North Carolina have all ready administered a ban.
An anonymous school teacher says, “I really like the ban on Silly Bandz because they are a huge disturbance in my classes. They just aggravate me! One time a boy in front of me popped his on accident and it flew off and hit me. This didn’t help my liking towards the bracelets,” she says.
North Augusta High School’s principal Vining says, “I see why teachers find it distracting when kids are trading them during class, but I don’t think it’s as big of a deal as schools are making it out to be.”
Silly Bandz have also been a safety concern according to Bill Dollard, principal of Shaker Road Elementary in South Colonie, Texas.
“They just became too much of a distraction toward what we were trying to accomplish. (Students) were going to the nurse's office with their circulation cut off from the 30 they were wearing,” Road says.
Not every school is against the new fad; in fact, some schools are enforcing them by handing them out as rewards.
A lot of people in the toy industry think Silly Bandz will soon disappear from all the local toy stores. The creator of Silly Bandz, Robert Croak, isn’t at all disappointed by his invention being banned or dwindling. “I’m the luckiest guy in the World,” he says.
Croak has a variety of new ideas to improve Silly Bandz and predicts they will be around for another five years.