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Children should be allowed to get bored (2013)

bbc.com

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Re: Children should be allowed to get bored (2013)

#141

Post by i5heu »

mihaaly wrote: post #115
i5heu wrote: post #38

This article is not about "allowing" kids to be bored. It is to force kids to spend their time like this person that has a romanticized view of their childhood wants them to fill "the void".

I believe there is a point there, we live in a society where we must be entertained well! Not being entertained is shame. Allowing is fine enough word here I believe.

Rather then taking kinds their media away and in turn making this media even more valuable for them. I would suggest trying to establish attention as something valuable and that is important to direct yourself rather then having it directed by someone else.

Re: Children should be allowed to get bored (2013)

#142

Post by sotix »

JR1427 wrote: post #44
Refusing23 wrote: post #9

When my kid is bored he eventually figures out something to do. if he gets less tv or whatever, for a period, he gets deeply invested in lego or drawing or similar

I'm not saying its evil or anything, but on demand TV is IMO not a good thing for kids. It can be a real battle to get my daughter away from Bluey. Back in my day, we had to wait at least a day for the next episode, or often a week, or more! TV was actually "seasonal", which it no longer is. I firmly believe that humans need seasons, i.e. periods of time that are different from each other, either summer, winter etc,…

> I firmly believe that humans need seasons, i.e. periods of time that are different from each other, either summer, winter etc

This is actually a very weird part about living in Los Angeles. It doesn’t feel like time passes when the weather is always the same.

Re: Children should be allowed to get bored (2013)

#143

Post by alfiedotwtf »

xkbarkar wrote: post #47

I feel the destructive behaviour of bored kids is forgotten a bit. Growing up in the late 70s early 80s we were kicked out of the house until dinner. We did a lot of really dangerous things exploring. Among these, -Playing in storm drains. Inside the narrow tunnels I might add. -Abandoned construction sites. -Railway tracks. Putting things o the rails waiting for the train to see what happened. Everything from rocks…

Bingo!

Even into my 30s I used to wake up in a panic remembering all the situations where I’ve almost died because I was just a little bored.

It sounds like the nostalgia in the comments here are akin to “I was poor, so you’re going to know what it’s like being poor too”.

Re: Children should be allowed to get bored (2013)

#144

Post by JackMorgan »

keybored wrote: post #110
ricketyricky wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ehem - sounds like a normal childhood? Compare that to the sheltered, all-wishes-granted and no minute spent w/o distractions like social media, kids. Started with Gen Z who get all angsty, with panic attacks, when they have to start performing, i.e., during final exams and the like. And never learned to deal with emotions and free-floating thoughts, handling themself, keeping calm. (all observed from multiple cowork…

This follows the for-me-not-for-thee principle: - The parent who grew up in the self-identify as a tough rugrat who had fun and was fearless; not a wuzz like those modern kids (“kids” here excludes their own) - But the parent would rather that their kids be safe than to have to pain themselves worrying about them constantly

Perhaps the modern parent must learn the difficult task of slowly trusting the unsupervised child the same way the unsupervised child must learn to trust themselves.

This seems a difficult ask, but it's possible and probably very healthy for all involved.

Re: Children should be allowed to get bored (2013)

#145

Post by argiopetech »

watwut wrote: post #140
coldtea wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For totally different reasons. We're not talking about street urchins in Victorian era or pre-modern medicine child mortality.

The deadly accidents were a thing the way they basically are not a thing now.

Yet, accidents are still the leading cause of death for children 0-14 years of age.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/child-health.htm

Re: Children should be allowed to get bored (2013)

#146

Post by coldtea »

watwut wrote: post #140
coldtea wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For totally different reasons. We're not talking about street urchins in Victorian era or pre-modern medicine child mortality.

The deadly accidents were a thing the way they basically are not a thing now.

You can't die if you're already not living

Re: Children should be allowed to get bored (2013)

#147

Post by teekert »

watwut wrote: post #128
teekert wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, we make them myopic and teach them that boredom is battles with a screen?

No, my point is that you dont have to turn every little mundane thing into a teaching-something-important moment. Overall, it is absurd, someone getting outraged over a kid not having a trip to preschool or whatever turned into as educational enriching character building exercise as possible.

Perhaps it is absurd, and indeed loosing a small amount of time for neural development is negligible, but I find it at least equally absurd that the kid needs to be sedated with a screen when riding on the back of a bike.

I can’t imagine anything good coming from that bored=grab-screen-attitude that people have. Moreover those screens are also used to silence kids. Like pacifiers, but with worse side effects and with habits formed for the rest of their lives.

Also, why use the screen on the bike? I bet that is not the only screen time. Kids have been behaving on the backs of bikes for 100 years with 0 issues. The value of the screen is negative.

Re: Children should be allowed to get bored (2013)

#148

Post by Zambyte »

watwut wrote: post #134
coldtea wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the things you describe are part of a good childhood and learning boundaries and limits, and testing yourself, and growing harder, and having fun. Sorry, but we had been living like that for ages before helicopter parents became the norm. Kids didn't die in the streets by the truckload, or jump off of roofs to their doom any any number to statistically matter, as this alarmist comment implies.

Kids mortality used to be much higher then it is now.

Kids mental health used to be much better than it is now.

Re: Children should be allowed to get bored (2013)

#149

Post by JR1427 »

watwut wrote: post #138
JR1427 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not saying its evil or anything, but on demand TV is IMO not a good thing for kids. It can be a real battle to get my daughter away from Bluey. Back in my day, we had to wait at least a day for the next episode, or often a week, or more! TV was actually "seasonal", which it no longer is. I firmly believe that humans need seasons, i.e. periods of time that are different from each other, either summer, winter etc,…

I agree that nonstop access is not good. But I also think that current ability to see the series at once and then be done with that is strictly superior over past "episode once a week" schedule. First, it leads to way more interesting shows, but also it affects my life much less. The tv schedule used to rule peoples days, they would try to be at home for the show, they would stop socializing and what not just to see…

I remember a kid in school who had an alarm set for 1750, so he would have time to run home from the park to catch The Simpsons (which was shown daily at 1800 for years, with two episodes on a Friday!)

Re: Children should be allowed to get bored (2013)

#150

Post by JR1427 »

imp0cat wrote: post #117
JR1427 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not saying its evil or anything, but on demand TV is IMO not a good thing for kids. It can be a real battle to get my daughter away from Bluey. Back in my day, we had to wait at least a day for the next episode, or often a week, or more! TV was actually "seasonal", which it no longer is. I firmly believe that humans need seasons, i.e. periods of time that are different from each other, either summer, winter etc,…

Understood, it can be a real battle to get myself away from Bluey. :) I find that setting (and enforcing!) a limit works great though. Play X episodes a day, the turn the TV off.

Yup, setting limits in advance is the way to go.

"okay, just one more episode" definitely doesn't work!

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