Vice Principal Message

In Defence of the Boring

As we move towards the school holidays, the children (and teachers) are excited and looking forward to the break. For parents and carers are busy working out how to keep their children entertained.

Below is an article by Jilly Murphy from Common Sense Media around the benefits of boredom. The US are currently in their Summer break, but this article is relevant for all school breaks.

The first wave of summer boredom has probably arrived by now.

Not the charming kind. The loud, repetitive, somehow-happening-next-to-you kind.

It can feel like an emergency, especially when the complaints are loud and the easiest fix is already sitting nearby. But boredom is one of the few remaining pauses in a kid's day. No autoplay. No next episode. No adult-run activity. Just a little empty space and the unpleasant task of deciding what to do with it.

Research on unstructured time consistently shows that boredom is where kids develop self-direction: figuring out what to do, what they like, and how to entertain themselves when nobody else is doing it for them. No app, camp, or enrichment plan can fully replace that.

The hard part is that boredom now has a very convenient exit. Devices are built for this exact moment. The second there is empty space, there's a screen full of content ready to fill it.

That doesn't mean that every bored kid needs to be left staring at a wall for character development. But handing over a phone or tablet at the first complaint can short-circuit the moment before it becomes anything else.

What actually helps:

Hold the line, gently. "Find something to do" is a complete answer. You don't need to generate a list of suggestions or feel guilty about a quiet afternoon.

Let it get uncomfortable for a bit. Creativity usually shows up after the complaining peaks, not before. If you can wait it out, something often happens.

The long game is a kid who can be alone with themselves without immediately reaching for a screen. That doesn't come from seeing more content. It comes from a summer's worth of boring Tuesday afternoons.

Tonight's to-do: Next time you hear "I'm bored," try saying "Good" and walking away. See what happens in the next 30 minutes

Regards

Julie Hall

Vice-Principal