Wichita ? Jennifer Sinclair was willing to give Silly Bandz a chance. The silicone bracelets are the newest craze among kids, who love to wear, collect and trade them with friends. Students at Truesdell Middle School, where Sinclair is principal, arrived at school this fall wearing dozens of the bands on each wrist.

But after too many arguments over trades gone bad and one Silly Bandz-fueled spitball incident in the school cafeteria, Sinclair outlawed the fad last week.

“I talked with my leadership team, and we all just agreed that we’d reached the tipping point,” she said.

“There got to be enough problems that we just had to tell the kids, ‘Gosh, we’re so sorry, but Silly Bandz can’t be at school anymore.'”

Several Wichita-area schools have banished the popular bracelets, saying they’ve become a distraction in classrooms and hallways.

Silly Bandz look like rubber bands on your wrist and when removed morph into shapes such as dolphins, superheroes, guitars and palm trees. Packs of 20 to 24 cost about $5 — smaller packs and knock-off brands are cheaper — and are sold pretty much anywhere there’s a cash register.

Area districts say they’re letting schools decide how to handle the craze. Some principals report few problems with the bracelets or say teachers have the right to take away the bands if students flick them, argue over them or play with them too much during lessons.

At some schools, the bracelets have become the new gold star, with teachers offering them as incentives for good work or behavior, or as prizes at school fundraisers.

“We never know how widespread a fad is going to be,” said Susan Rosell, principal at Riverside Leadership Magnet Elementary. “So we kind of watch and see how it plays out with our kids.”

Rosell said she first noticed the bracelets in small numbers last spring. But this fall, “You had students coming to school with a 3-inch row of bands on their wrists,” she said. “It really seemed to take off over the summer.”

Though she hasn’t banned the bracelets specifically, Rosell says Riverside’s dress code does not allow clothing or accessories that “disrupt the school environment or impede learning.”

So far, some teachers have confiscated bands and returned them to children after school.

“Teachers know that if it causes problems, they need to address it,” Rosell said. “And kids are good about understanding that.”