- Boredom is common in the summer months, but it's a natural emotion like anger or happiness.
- Boredom can drive creativity, but technology has made it harder.
- Parents can help by giving their kids tips and tools when they're feeling bored.
Stacey Peterson’s kids haven’t complained of being bored this summer.
“They’ve been able to entertain themselves better as they’ve gotten older,” said the Pleasant Grove, Utah, mother of Brinley, 16, Morgan, 13, Hannah, 8 and Andrew, 6.
The family fills summer days with activities ranging from quilt making, to beekeeping, to baking, to playing outside. Peterson said the kids come up with the things they want to do, then she helps by “getting supplies, making sure it’s safe” and helping with whatever else they may need.
Not all kids are as good at coming up with ideas of what to do, though. As the weeks since school ended drag on and vacations pass, children often complain about being bored by the time July comes around — a complaint that could send parents into a panic.
So, how can parents help? Should they supply their kids with endless activities, or is it good for them to feel a little restless? How can parents encourage their kids to be creative and entertain themselves, like the Petersons seem to have figured out?
Here’s what experts have to say about boredom.
Boredom is an emotion
Shane Bench, an associate psychology professor at Utah State University, said boredom is an emotion, “much like anger or happiness or sadness or fear.” It’s not necessarily something to avoid or seek, but “something that happens,” he said.
Maybe that seems like an intuitive observation, but boredom has become somewhat of a hot topic lately. Searching “Is boredom good for you?” online brings up a plethora of resources that say boredom is good and should be experienced.
It takes more understanding of what boredom is to understand what that really means.
James Danckert is a professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Waterloo. In a podcast episode of Screen Deep from the Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, he said, “I would never encourage anyone to encourage boredom in their child. The more you encourage boredom, the more likely you are to create a boredom-prone child, and ... there’s nothing good associated with being chronically bored.”
He instead suggested encouraging “downtime” or “recharge time.” Kids should “do something that doesn’t have to have a purpose or a goal necessarily, but that allows (them) to be more open to possibilities,” he said.
To put it another way, the Child Mind Institute says on its website, “It’s not the boredom itself that helps children acquire these skills — it’s what they do with the boredom." The skills it referred to are: “planning strategies, problem-solving skills, flexibility and organizational skills.”
What happens during boredom?
Bench told Deseret News that boredom “drives us to do something else” because it’s not an emotionally stimulating state. For many, including kids in the summer, boredom is an unpleasant feeling, “so it signals us to find something else. The challenge there is, what else?” he said.
Boredom, or downtime, has the power to lead to creativity, like it has for the Peterson kids. When their mom doesn’t tell them exactly what to do, they figure it out themselves.
But the prevalence of technology poses a problem, according to Bench.
“Society has tablets and TVs and smartphones, and they all have algorithms with endless streams,” with the sole goal of keeping people engaged, he said. Devices defeat the purpose of boredom because instead of stopping to find something more meaningful, people keep scrolling.
Bench said social media algorithms engage people when they’re feeling bored with a quick burst of what appears like value, but has no long-term benefits.
What can be done?
Competing with an algorithm is tough, but it’s not impossible.
Peterson said she gives her kids 20 minutes of screen time on Saturdays. For the rest of the week, they must find other things to counter their boredom, which has led to their activity-packed summer.
She said that small amount of screen time may sound extreme, “but I just figure it’s such a waste of time, and they give so much time to it but get nothing in return.”
Peterson said families should find whatever works best for them, whether that’s signing up for summer camps, staying away from screens or giving kids ideas of what to do, then letting them choose.
Regarding technology, Bench said what people turn to when bored depends on what’s around them. He suggested people could surround themselves, or their kids, with options other than a device to encourage creativity.
Heather Lench, a professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Texas A&M University, published an article in Psychology Today in May with other suggestions on how parents can help their kids through the boring days of summer:
- Remind them of activities they’ve done in the past. “Rather than giving specific suggestions, giving them a prompt about past success can also help them figure out how to untangle themselves,” she said.
- Play and laugh. “If a child can be engaged, even for a few minutes, in play, it has the potential to shift them out of the painful state of boredom. Getting a child to play or even just to laugh can shift their mood and focus radically.”
- Be an example to them. “Parents can help set the stage for children to regulate their own boredom by intentionally modeling their own regulation of boredom. Parents talking out loud about what they’re doing can help give kids a framework to think about boredom.”
By following those tips and letting kids experience the emotion of boredom instead of giving them an immediate way out, parents can help foster more creativity the rest of summer.
