Opinion

The BENEFITS of Doing Nothing

Reporter Celeste Barber

Boredom: described in the dictionary is “the state of being bored.” Now, most people would say that being bored is a bad thing, but I and a lot of people would disagree. Being bored is what you make of it. Now, you’re probably asking yourself, “how do you make something out of nothing?” Think of it as making a cake from scratch. There you’re making something out of nothing.

Nowadays people expect every little thing to be exciting, whether that be going to school, work, etc. In her New York Times article “Let Children Get Bored Again”, Pamela Paul writes, “School, let’s face it, can be dull, and it isn’t actually the teacher’s job to entertain as well as educate.” Now, being that I’m only a sixteen year old teenager, I have not gotten the full experience of life, but I think it’s safe to say, as Paul puts it, “life isn’t meant to be an endless parade of amusements”

Kids today probably do not know what boredom looks like because they have had a phone in their face since their toddler years. Thanks to the technology driven world we live in today, a kid’s idea of boredom likely sparks when their phone dies. Similar to a lot of kids, I would do anything to not be bored, even if that means doing two sports or cleaning.

Going away from the bad rap that being bored has, it’s not always a bad thing. I know from myself and friends, people have the tendency to think more when they are bored. Being bored is a perk of life, if you use it wisely that is. If you are bored and you watch television, you are not going to gain any knowledge from watching an episode of The Office, but if you read a book, it’s a whole other story (no pun intended of course). People can’t expect to always have something to do, or never being bored, but it’s what you make of that situation.

People who agree that boredom isn’t always such a bad thing usually have found the positive in boredom. Junior Mikaela Thomas says, “It’s not a bad thing, but it can lead to overthinking.” Mikaela says she “personally hasn’t had an experience overthinking, but [she] has experienced [her] friends in that situation.”

History teacher Mrs. Sturtz says, “If you are going all the time it can be much, but it gives you time to reflect.”

English teacher Mrs. Dominguez agrees, saying “in today's society, people want things quickly. If we allow boredom then we allow our minds a chance to be creative and explore different topics, thoughts, and ideas.”

Opposing my opinion, people have a different view on boredom for example, Junior Austin Kent says “boredom leads to bad decisions.” Given his experience with boredom, Austin usually makes stupid choices when he is bored.

Sophomore Eden Smith agrees that boredom is a bad thing because “when you’re bored you mindlessly do things”.

Regardless everyone will have their own opinion on whether or not boredom is a bad thing, but most people agree that it is what you do with boredom that’ll affect if it’s bad or not.