Extra Credit Bonus - Boredom

Courtesy of the Core Knowledge Blog, it's a two post Friday.  Got to keep it short though, because my tendonitis is acting up and touch typing is painful.

Mark Bauerlein, in the role of guest blogger, tackles a facet of student boredom in school.  And does it quite well, pointing out that when high school students start whining about boredom adults step in and try to alleviate it.  But if you are bored with university level work, professors don't give a rat's ass.  Ultimately, it is students who must be able to handle boredom and deal with it themselves without outside intervention.

Unfortunately, Mr. Bauerlein does not follow his train of thought through to its logical conclusion.  Children in elementary school need to learn, must learn the fact, that the GREAT MAJORITY OF LIFE IS MIND-NUMBINGLY BORING!  No one was put on this earth to entertain you.  You are not the center of the universe; your every whim will not be catered to.  Your boredom is way down our list of priorities, somewhere after, "Did I eat enough garlic today?"  That's part of the point of going to school in the first place, learning to get along with other people and to learn how to delay gratification.

Tough cookies if your teacher makes you read books without pictures, or forces you to complete the entire sheet of 30 multiplication problems before you go out to recess.  Responsible members of civilization get their work done before they seek out entertainment because if they don't, entertainment will quickly become impossible to obtain.

Your teacher is making you read 19th century poetry and solve algebraic equations, what possible use could this be?  Well, after you fail to make the NBA or found the next Facebook or win the lottery you may need to get a real job.  You may need to understand how humans think and/or the logic of computers.  You may need to talk to your bosses about what interests them, and it probably won't be the Kardashians or Grand Theft Auto V.  You have no idea what your future holds, and neither do your teachers.  But what your teachers do know is the body of knowledge that has allowed millions of people to lead successful lives in thousands of different professions.  Your teacher lives in a world you can only guess at, and knows how to be successful there.  That world contains 19th century poetry, algebra, history, biology and, you guessed it, boredom.


Children can and should learn how to deal with boredom, and they should do it at a young age.  High school and college are far too late.  By then their transformation to narcissistic, spoiled brats is complete and nothing will be able change them.