Boredom at school: Is stress the cause?

Deseret News:

Conventional wisdom tells us kids feel bored at school because they are under-challenged, under-motivated or poorly taught. A 2012 report from the Association for Psychological Science says the classic signals of boredom might be telling a different story, according to an Education Week blog by Sarah D. Sparks.

When a child gazes out of a classroom window, fidgets and acts out at school, or heaves a sigh that says “I’m so bored!”, the real problem might be outside stressors that can interfere with schoolwork, and even health.

“I think teachers should always try to be relevant and interesting, but beyond that, there are other places to look,” Sparks was told by John D. Eastwood, an associate professor of psychology at York University in Toronto, Canada (author of the study). “By definition, to be in the state of boredom is to say the world sucks out there in some way. But often that’s not the case; often it’s an interior problem, and [students] are looking in the wrong place to solve the problem.”

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