When Silly Bandz Get Serious

This Daily Progress article discusses the newest craze among school-aged kids - Silly Bandz. These "bandz" are being worn by people of all ages (I'll admit I have 3), but kids in elementary and middle school can be seen with enough silly bandz to cover half their arm. Schools across the country are citing the bandz as a major distraction to a proper learning environment and have resorted to banning the bandz. Cale Elementary School is the first school in Albermarle County to have banned these stretchy bracelets. "When you think about a distraction to the learning environment, it's through a multitude of things, whether that is arguing over them, [trade deals or] people accusing other students of stealing their Silly Bandz," said Lisa Jones, the principal at Cale. The schools banning these bracelets are arguing that there is a negative externality in the consumption of the bandz. It appears that the benefit to the school as a whole is much less than the private benefit to the consumers of these bandz - really cool 7 year olds. If schools continue to ban these bandz the fad that took the nation by storm this past summer probably won't last much longer.