It's GOOD for children to experience boredom...

No it didn't. It stated it as a fact. No question was put.

I have already made the point about other children. Mon 17-Aug-15 10:03:31

See. No one reads my posts. Not even the person who started the thread.

I don't think we need to worry that children don't know what to do with themselves. They will have enough boredom to get through in their school and working lives. The best antidote is reading and playing games and of course now they all want to be texting etc.

When I look back at my childhood I can't remember being bored although we had almost nothing, but then nobody had anything and we played out together. Children will find a way out of boredom. Its freedom to do what they want that is lacking. Freedom to play out and explore. its tragic how minimised some children's lives are.

Quite right jingl it was a statement.

i did read your point about a playmate. I meant a group of kids, not just one. Perhaps you meant that too.

Good post Margaretx, yes, they lack freedom.

Exactly Anya- when we were kids we did get bored, and there was NO tv or any electronic gadgets, etc- and after a while we did think of something to do, to create, to climb, to draw ... whatever. But how how does one 'pretend- artificially and with the GCs knowing full well that the tablet, game console, etc- is just there behind the cupboard door- without them seeing in as a 'punishment and denial'? Same for money- we had none, and we knew there was none- my GCs know that there is some... somewhere not far.

Really not sure what the answer is. Our GCs are also taken to rubgy, swimming, ballet, Scouts, etc, etc- they only have 1 evening free of activities. Here the kids say something like 'going to the woods with x, y and z- don't worry got my pen-knife- back around 7- bye' same as I did in the 50s.

I think today's children on the whole are probably the happiest ever. And leading the happiest and rewarding lives ever.

#fussovernothing

That last s ntence should have read "and leading the fullest and most rewarding lives ever."

God forbid that the only thing they can find to do is bury their noses in books. Reading is fine, but kids need to be active.

According to the latest survey British kids are some of the unhappiest in Europe.

I was talking generation-wise, not geographically.

I'm not sure how they can possibly measure, or compare, happiness of UK children with that of other countries.

I'm not sure how anyone can measure happiness in children or adults.

Well apparently there are measures but i suppose the only way is to ask them. This is more likely to show how dissatisfied people and children are. It would seem children in this country are more bullied than in other countries, though whether this is true or just their perception is open to debate.

A lot of our children live like prisoners. It's a totally unnatural state. They are taken to and collected from school. They have organised, adult supervised after school and weekend activities. They never have the chance to go out alone or with other children. They never get the chance to do things without adults watching.

I grew up on a building site and, although now as an adult I cringe, I and other children used the partially built houses as a playground. We climbed, ran, played block and a host of other games. OK we took a lot of risks and I'm sure health and safety would have a fit but we had a great time and we learned a lot about ourselves and how to relate to others.

Children have no freedom now. Maybe that is a reason why they're so unhappy.