Orange County

Orange County school says 'bottle flipping' is reason for regulating disposable plastic bottles

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An online trend popular with students around the world has prompted an Orange County middle school to ask students to stop bringing disposable plastic water bottles on campus.

Avalon Middle School said students have been disrupting class by "bottle flipping."

According to  Wikipedia, bottle flipping involves taking a plastic water bottle that is partially empty, holding it by the neck and then flicking it away from a person. A flip is determined to be successful if the bottle lands upright. The amount of fluid in the bottle also plays a part; Wikipedia noted bottle flippers say filling up the bottles by one-third improves success rates.

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The principal of Avalon Middle School sent a notice to parents about teachers' concerns over disruptions but also the risk of potential injuries. Students with unconcealed plastic bottles will be asked to empty them.

Bottle flipping is so popular developers created apps for a virtual flipping experience. The app

was developed in 2016. iTunes lists more than 12,000 reviews at an average of four stars. %

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Then there is social media…

A search for 'bottle flipping' on Twitter produced a long list of posts about the topic. The game even inspired one user to create a Twitter handle called @BottleFlippingSquad. The public description encourages fellow bottle flipping enthusiasts to direct message the account to join so they can share their successes.

The Facebook page for Best Celebrations posted a video showing a group of teenagers who say they built a bottle flipping robot.

Water bottle flipping robot... 😂 (via @E_halper_50, h/t @houseofhighlights)

Posted by Best Celebrations on Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Bottle flipping joins other viral trends from 2016, including the Mannequin Challenge.

It is believed to have gained traction after a video of a teenager performing it at his high school talent show in Charlotte, North Carolina.