Emma Lowry, Assistant Dean of Students
School holidays represent long, unstructured days of free time. It’s what every student dreams about during the busy school term, but it doesn’t take long before some of us get to hear two of the most irritating words in summer: ’I’m bored’.
As parents, it’s easy to give in to teenage demands and jump to the rescue by filling in the days with scheduled activities of distraction. I want to suggest that this is precisely what we should not be doing. Allowing time for adolescents to be bored is one of the best things we can do for them. The stuff of boredom — being away from friends, obligations, and technology — is physically and mentally beneficial and contributes to cognitive development. Being bored is good for children, and for that matter, adults too.
Scientists are still researching what boredom is exactly and how it is measured. Dr John Eastwood defines it in terms of attention, where we are:
not able to successfully engage attention with internal (e.g. thoughts or feelings) or external (e.g. environmental stimuli) information required for participating in satisfying activity; focused on the fact that we are not able to engage attention and participate in satisfying activity; and attribute the cause of our aversive state to the environment (Eastwood, Frischen, Fenske, Smilek, 2012).
In other words, when we say ’this is boring’ or ’there is nothing to do‘, we are blaming the environment because we have difficulty paying attention to our inner thoughts, feelings, or outside stimuli (Live Science, 2012).
Psychologist, Thomas Goetz takes ‘boredomology’ further by categorising types of boredom which are good for us. Indifferent boredom is where one feels low energy, but in pretty good spirits. Calibrating boredom involves being aware of our low energy, not wanting to feel that way, but not knowing how to get out of that state. Searching boredom is characterised by restlessness, irritability and agitation that drives us to look for something to do (Hanessian, 2015). It is these types of boredom which psychologists recommend for children because of the impact they have on creativity and imagination, independence and self-awareness, and on mental wellbeing and functioning (Goldhill, 2016).
The next time your daughter says that she is bored or has nothing to do, explain to her the following benefits of boredom and invite her to see boredom as an opportunity, rather than as a deficit.
Boredom can boost divergent thinking skills, imagination and creativity
Boredom is ‘crucial’ for developing internal stimulus which then allows true creativity. Dr Teresea Belton’s numerous studies have focused on the link between boredom and imagination (Goldhill, 2016), and have concluded that children who did not watch television scored significantly higher on divergent thinking skills — a measure of imaginativeness — than those who did watch television (Belton, 2016). TV stifled imagination precisely because child viewers rarely became bored nor learnt how to use their own imagination as a form of entertainment (McGuiness, 2009). Results showed that those children’s lack of imagination was at least, in part, caused by the absence of ‘empty time’ without sensory stimulation. While teenagers today watch less TV, digital technologies provide similarly constant mindless stimulation to keep potentially beneficial boredom at bay.
For some of our girls, it may be a challenge to shift from the expectation that they should be constantly entertained, or on the go. But being unplugged and engaged in low-key, undemanding activity is more likely to have the mind wandering; and as a result, the brain is more likely to come up with imaginative ideas and creative solutions to problems.
Boredom can have positive impacts on brain development
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have used brain scanners and electroencephalography sensors to monitor neural activity in people engaged in problem solving. They found the brain was working much harder in those people who solved problems by daydreaming, resulting in a ‘brainwave’ or a flash of insight, than in those who used logical reasoning. A new study suggests that our brain may be the most actively engaged when our mind is wandering; that is, when we are slightly bored and we’ve actually lost track of our thoughts (McGuiness, 2009).
Holiday time is the perfect opportunity to lose track of thoughts, or daydream; a skill which requires practice, and one which — according to Belton (2016) — too many kids never get enough time to practise. When we think we’re doing nothing, we’re actually doing more inside the brain (Fernyhough, 2016) and just letting the mind wander from time to time is important, for everybody’s mental well-being and functioning.
Boredom can cultivate self-awareness and independence
Time away from the bombardment of the outside word and time to ponder on one’s own thoughts allows for the discovery of personal interests and gifts. Neuroscientist, Susan Greenfield said that, as a child, she had little to do but draw and write stories, the precursors of her later studies on human behavior (Belton, 2016). In the book “On Kissing, Tickling, and Being Bored: Psychoanalytic Essays on the Unexamined Life, Adam Phillips wrote that the ”capacity to be bored can be a developmental achievement for the child … it is one of the most oppressive demands of adults that the child should be interested, rather than take time to find what interests him. Boredom is integral to the process of taking one’s time’ (Goldhill, 2016).
The overscheduled child, or the child who never disconnects, or the child who demands constant engagement with peers, can unwittingly block their own sense of self-discovery and can miss the wonders of spontaneous discovery that arise naturally.
Our girls have had a year of rigorous study and critical thinking in a vibrant learning environment. Their creativity has and will be challenged, and their curiosities ignited. All students, and Year 8, in particular have also been exposed to the practice of Mindfulness, and have been invited to incorporate reflection and gratitude into their daily routine. Holiday time offers another, different opportunity to reflect and to be thoughtful and creatively curious. Switching off, doing nothing and letting the mind wander can bestow the gift of boredom. And a healthy dose of boredom, is an opportunity for us all to embrace.
References
Belton, T. (2016). Being bored is good for children -and adults. This is why. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/09/being-bored-is-good-for-children-and-adults-this-is-why
Eastwood, J., Frishen, A., Fenske, M., & Smilek, D. (2012). The Unengaged Mind Defining Boredom in Terms of Attention. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(5), 482-495. Retrieved from doi: 10.1177/1745691612456044
Fernyhough, C. (2016). What happens when your brain wanders? Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p048gx4t
Goldhill, O. (2016). Psychologists recommend children be bored in the summer. Retrieved from http://qz.com/704723/to-be-more-self-reliant-children-need-boring-summers/
Hanessian, L. (2015, January 23). 7 exciting facts about boredom. Courier Post. Retrieved from http://www.courierpostonline.com/story/life/2015/01/23/exciting-facts-boredom/22249963/
Live Science. (2012). Why We Get Bored. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/23493-why-we-get-bored.html
McGuiness, M. (2011). Is the iphone killing your creativity? Retrieved from http://lateralaction.com/articles/iphone-creativity/