Rainbow Loom bracelets are bright, colorful, fun and -- at some schools -- now banned.
A school in Park Slope, Brooklyn recently banished the rainbow bracelet weaving kits from the school grounds, claiming that the rubber band accessories distracted “addicted” students.
"It was like the kids couldn't live without it," Eve Litwack, principal of P.S. 107 told DNAinfo. "It was just getting to the point where it was really crazy."
Stringing mini rubber bands together to make a bracelet may seem harmless, but administrators at P.S. 107 said that loom band mania was getting in the way of learning. Litwack explained that kids were weaving bracelets when teachers’ backs were turned. She also said that some kids teased others for not having kits of their own.
Park Slope isn’t the only place that's banning the trendy toys. A school on the Upper West Side of Manhattan also prohibited them.
CBS New York reports that the school’s principal sent a letter to parents warning of the new no-Rainbow Loom policy: “Any students caught with the offending items must hand them over to their teacher, the letter said. The bracelets will be returned to a parent.”
Although these two schools see the bracelets as a nuisance, some parents think that creating the intricate designs actually helps kids build math skills. Lyss Stern, founder of DivaMoms.com and a mother of two, went on Fox News to talk about why she thinks bracelet bans are silly.
“They’re using so many skills they actually should be using in school,” she told Fox. “If they feel it’s distracting, maybe the teacher at the beginning of the day should set a reminder. Set the rules.”
The rules have already been set at these two New York schools: No Rainbow Loom.
Flickr photo courtesy of Blake Facey
Related
Before You Go
