
Why Rising Boredom Levels in Teens Might Be a Good Thing
By Movieguide® Contributor
Today’s teens are more bored than ever before — but that might be a good thing.
A study from the University of Michigan’s annual Monitoring the Future survey found that thousands of teenagers “said they ‘agreed’ or ‘mostly agreed’ with the statement ‘I am often bored.’”
“More than 21% of eighth and 10th graders said they were often bored [in 2021], as did nearly more than 45% of 12th graders,” Yahoo! reported. “That’s up from 13.2% of eighth and 10th graders and 37% of 12th graders in 2014. Boredom ebbed in 2022, as the world reopened, but rose again in 2023.”
This boredom leads kids into a vicious cycle of “doomscrolling” — getting bored, picking up their phone, losing interest in whatever app they’re interacting with, putting their phone down and getting bored all over again.
READ MORE: IS DOOMSCROLLING MAKING YOU MORE BORED?
“A lot of that is due to the constant screen use and having that ability to avoid boredom with the screen,” he explained. “Boredom is the seed of creativity, but when people are avoiding boredom all the time, they never need to create, learn a skill, do art or go out and make friends.”
Many experts actually encourage kids’ boredom. Psychiatrist Dr. Carl Marci told HuffPost that he lets his children get bored on purpose.
“They get mad at me,” he laughed. “But after a few minutes, they start to creatively solve their problems or distract themselves with social interaction or play.”
Dr. Marci explained that kids’ early exposure to screens teaches them to use tech as a “mood regulator,” which can impact their emotional responses in the long run.
“So the more access to internet connected devices and screens with content designed primarily to capture a child’s attention and engage them as long as possible, the more that kids learn they don’t have to ever be bored,” he said.
Yahoo! shared some tips for parents who might be looking to combat their kids’ boredom without smartphones or screens, suggesting going for a walk, hanging out with friends, and modeling the behavior you want to see in your child.
“Curiosity is contagious and…modeling the thrill of learning and curiosity is really helpful, because parents have a very large influence over children’s approach to learning and how engaged and motivated they are,” Rebecca Winthrop, director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, explained.
READ MORE: IS INTERNET ADDICTION DESTROYING YOUR KID’S BRAIN?