Why You Should Let Children Be Bored

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In this day and age, we have many electronics just begging to entertain us. With a flip of the button, we can be drawn into the magical blue light of a screen and escape into another world. Our day-to-day life is stressful, and we welcome the distraction. We can learn new things, on any topic, from around the world. It’s awesome.

In the summer it is tempting to turn on the TV, video game, or an iPad, and let them go for hours. Parents aren’t the only ones who are guilty, but some childcare providers too.

Have we traded sunlight for blue light?

The American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends a top limit of two hours of screen time per day for children 2 and older (and none for those under 2). Yet, many children exceed this amount by far more.

What many modern kids need is good old-fashioned boredom.

Let them be bored. They may whine at first, and you’ll want to pull out your hair. Power through it, and it’ll get easier.

Advantages of Bored Time

Boredom is constructive. It teaches children to learn about time management, and that rewards come from self-motivation. It forces children to explore new things — and they may like it! Or they may not, and they gain valuable insight from that too.

Unstructured time is about developing creativity. It’s about learning to see the beauty and art in all things. It’s about honing that very important skill of learning to self-soothe, your own emotions, and empathy. It’s discovering the landscape of your mind and soul.

In the quietness of a moment, a child’s mind is able to open to many new worlds.

Many studies show there are lots of cognitive, social, and emotional benefits from unstructured time. It may be harder to do in today’s world with roads everywhere, climate change/weird weather, and isolation from neighbors… but it’s worth fighting for. Turn off their screens and send them forth to go and (safely) explore the real world.

Making backyard memories with their brothers.
My boys making backyard memories with their brothers.

Life Before the Screen

I wonder what kids did in the summer before screens? My grandparents told stories of going out and playing ball, imaginary games for hours, all outside with the siblings and neighbors. They spoke of finding a nice window with sunlight pouring in and getting lost in a book. They had many chores and responsibilities, then unstructured time.

The lessons they learned were invaluable.

Sounds like a pretty great summer to me.

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