Why your child might be bored at school and what to do about it

Over recent years, research has been conducted pointing to the negative impact boredom has within the classroom. More and more children are dropping out of school, and they are claiming boredom to be the main culprit. Gail Cornwall with U.S. News asked our own Dr. Westgate, as well as other relevant boredom researchers, to explain why boredom happens and how parents can help their bored children.

Boredom occurs when we are engaged in something that is either too hard, too easy, or is not sufficiently meaningful to us. In the classroom setting, boredom likely leads to disruptive behavior, as it is linked to increased attention-seeking and risk-taking. Deviant behavior is, therefore, commonly the result of a child being bored, rather than a characteristic of the child's personality. 

Given all of these negative outcomes that can result from boredom, what can we do to reduce boredom? Dr. Westgate says that the answer has much to do with trying to assign more meaning to the boring work that students may be given. We can also reframe our mindset when we get bored with an assignment by thinking about the "silver linings."

To learn more about what you can to do combat boredom, click here to read the article!