Pen twirling has recently become a very common nervous habit that students have taken up

          A few years ago, twirling pens was not common, but it is now happening everywhere. Just how did such a strange habit come into existence and what does it do for students?

            Students did not always start off twirling pens. Methods students used before to calm anxiety included twittling thumbs, playing with hair and cracking knuckles. All these actions became classified as “bad habits” that teenagers were told to get rid of. Because all these actions required hands, teenagers needed something else to do with their hands. As a result, students began twirling their pens. Now twirling pens has become so common that it is starting to be recognized as a nervous habit.

            Pen twirling, like most nervous habits, is used to calm anxiety. Common anxiety inducers include tests, presentations, public performances or judgment by peers. The rhythmic motion of twirling a pen helps students relieve stress from their mind and transfer it into a repeated action in their hands. One method students can use to cure pen twirling is holding an object like a water bottle in their hands when they are not actively writing.

            Of course, not all students twirl pens due to nervousness or anxiety. Some students have done it so much that it has become a subconscious habit. Others simply twirl pens out of boredom. Whatever their reason, students have recently taken a great liking to twirling pens.