By Adam Smith

The North Jefferson News



Do you remember Garbage Pail Kids? How about Pokemon?

Don’t forget about Beanie Babies and Webkinz.

The latest craze with the pre-teen sect are animal-shaped silicone bands known as Silly Bandz. Manufactured by Toledo, Ohio-based Brainchild Products, LLC, the bands are worn on wrists and arms and traded with other children.

However, while the bands are hugely popular with kids, the latest fad is not so popular with school administrators. Silly Bandz have been banned from at least three elementary schools, including Fultondale Elementary, Snow Rogers Elementary and Bryan Elementary schools.

“I banned them the day I walked into a classroom and one flew past me,” said Bryan Elementary School Principal Debra Campbell. “Some kids have been shooting them at each other and some have been trading them and then wanting them back. I tell the kids that they’re weekend bracelets.”

Fultondale Elementary School Principal Cynde Cornelius has also had numerous problems with the bands, which are no longer allowed at her school.

“We were getting into the rubber band popping staff and one child had one wrapped so tightly around his finger, it turned purple,” Cornelius said. “My concern was about safety.”

She also wishes she had come up with the idea first. “When you do the math, somebody is making a lot of money,” she said.

Local merchants are more than happy to supply parents and kids with the latest fad in arm and wrist fashion.

“I’ve never seen anything so crazy in all my life,” said Robin Lee, owner of Lulu’s in Mt. Olive. “The first order I got was 119 pieces and I sold them in two days.”

Lulu’s sells Silly Bandz for $6.95 for 24 of the bands. Though the bands cost $4.95 through the Brainchild Products Web site, Lee said she had to charge more to pay for overnight shipping just to keep them in stores.

In addition to animal shapes, she also has Auburn and Alabama-themed bands and Crazy Bandz, which are similar to Silly Bandz but are slightly bigger. Lulu’s sells a 12-pack of Silly Bandz for $4.95 and the Auburn and Alabama bands are $5.95 per package.

At In Full Bloom in Gardendale, owner Traci Fassina has seen a similar response. She gets regular shipments of the bands and is eagerly awaiting the arrival of Christmas-themed bands next week.

“The kids go crazy over them,” she said. “I had a couple of moms who bought knock-off bands and their kids laughed at them because they were fakes. The Silly Bandz are the authentic deal.”

Fassina said the bands are just an example of a fad run amuck. She sells them for $5.50 per package. “For the younger kids, it’s the equivalent of teenagers who have to have a Northface jacket,” she said. “The kids have to have them, but they’re affordable.”

Affordable or not, Snow Rogers Principal Karen White said the bands also cause problems because students aren’t always happy with their trades. “They’re a distraction and I’ve had to ban them,” she said. “I also have to pick them up everywhere.”

Angie Bush, a K-3 teacher at Gardendale Nazarene Daycare, said while her own three children love Silly Bandz, they are certainly not for toddlers.

“Children under the age of five should be supervised,” she said. “We actually had to pull a Silly Band out of a girl’s mouth today and it was the second one.”