Why summer boredom is good for kids, tweens and teens

Now as a parent to my 8- and 13-year-old daughters and taking care of children in my pediatric practice at Kaiser Permanente Daly City, I spend ample time discussing boredom and its immeasurable benefits. Parents (and my own kids) are often surprised to hear that boredom can be healthy. 

In addition to my general pediatric practice, I help lead our multidisciplinary Healthy Eating Active Living Clinic for children who are struggling with obesity and obesity-related illnesses. Our clinic utilizes the six pillars of lifestyle medicine: whole food plant-forward nutrition, restorative sleep, stress management, regular exercise, social connection and avoiding risky substances.

Lifestyle medicine, a rapidly growing field of medicine, addresses the root cause of many chronic diseases including diabetes and heart disease. Incorporating the pillars of lifestyle medicine can also improve our mental health and help ease depression and anxiety. 

Working in conjunction with a nutritionist and physical therapist, my focus is on promoting restorative sleep, limiting screen time, ensuring social connection and managing stress. These interconnected lifestyle pillars often improve simultaneously by reshaping how children spend their time. In my discussions with families, it’s not uncommon to hear that older kids are on screens for nine or more hours a day during the summer months. Screens over the summer are often to blame for kids staying up until the wee hours of morning, sleeping late and eating erratically.

The children in my clinic are often reluctant to decrease their screen time because of FOMO (fear of missing out). When I encourage less screen time, a common response from parents is, “They’ll be bored.” To which I reply, “Great!”

Why? Because boredom allows for daydreaming, creativity, staring at squirrels out the window, lounging with the family dog and mental rest. It fosters autonomy, independence and self-sufficiency. It gives children the space to develop hobbies and passions that don’t involve screens. Boredom promotes interaction with siblings and other family members. It allows time for mindfulness and self-reflection, contributing to lower stress levels. And boredom helps us to be in sync with our natural circadian rhythm, promoting healthy sleep habits. 

Boredom often leads to mind-wandering, which is crucially important for healthy brain development (because an area of the brain called the Default Mode Network) becomes activated. This large network is often active when kids are awake and resting, daydreaming and letting their minds wander. During this time, they can self-reflect, think about the future, revisit and consolidate memories, and process information for the future. What often results is the development of creativity, problem-solving skills and a sense of self.

So, how should parents reply when their children complain about being bored? Kids (my own included) will inevitably protest when it is time to turn off the TV and disconnect from phones and tablets. As parents, we can be empathetic about their frustration and then pass the baton to our kids without telling them what they can or should do next.

The key is to leave it open-ended and let them figure it out. For example: “I know you’re disappointed that you can’t watch more TV. What else can you do?” And then, parents, you can walk away and see what happens. For my own children, once the initial protest subsides, they happily entertain themselves for hours by playing with Legos, reading books, building forts, lounging on the deck, talking to relatives and journaling.

Clearly a frameshift for many parents, embracing and actualizing boredom is one of the greatest gifts parents can give their children. In our current screen-obsessed society, building in screen-free, unstructured time provides invaluable balance for our children’s developing brains.

As Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once said, “I’m a big believer in boredom. Boredom allows one to indulge in curiosity and out of curiosity comes everything.” 

Elizabeth Nadiv, MD, is a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente in Daly City.