Bored of Amusement
“School is boring,” my son told me after lunch Tuesday. I thought, “Here we go again. How many times have we had this conversation?”
Deciding to find out exactly what boring means we went to the dictionary. The only form of the word in Webster’s 1828 is “bore,” which means to make a hole. How and when did things of life become boring? At Dictionary.com boredom means to weary by dullness, tedious repetition, or unwelcome attentions.
Reflecting on the current definition, I asked my son, “We didn’t have school lessons yesterday and have only done a few lessons today so what have you been doing repetitiously?” He knew the answer before I finished the question. He muttered, “Video games.” When allowed, building defenses against alien attack and constructing castles in virtual worlds are his choices for amusement.
Indulging in this entertainment has a way of dulling the senses. No matter how much time passes while images flash and move across the screen it is never long enough. It is easy to play and develop a resistance to work. How can this be overcome? Should I abolish gaming? I am fine with this option but another member of my family, who shall remain nameless, likes playing on the computer as well. I would be over ruled and my son would be frustrated.
Instead I reasoned with Bug. We talked about the etymology of the word amusement. The roots are “a” and “muse” which mean no thinking. This, of course, led to amusement parks, roller coasters, and, “When can we go to Six Flags?” Bringing the conversation back around, I continued probing, “Is it easier to play or work? What is the result of each?”
My nine year old son concluded that working and thinking has a better reward than playing. “Computer games are not real,” he said, “We need to learn so we will be prepared for life.” Maybe all his free time has not been spent playing. I think he’s been reading my blog.
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Very nice. Were you in the group back when we had our discussion on “fun?” Essentially, it means “vulgar merriment.” Not something that we should particularly strive for in education!
And etymology is always interesting:
O.E. borian “to bore,” from bor “auger,” from P.Gmc. *boron, from PIE base *bhor-/*bhr- “to cut with a sharp point” (cf. Gk. pharao “I plow,” L. forare “to bore, pierce,” O.C.E. barjo “to strike, fight,” Alb. brime “hole”). The meaning “diameter of a tube” is first recorded 1572; hence fig. slang full bore (1936) “at maximum speed,” from notion of unchoked carburetor on an engine. Sense of “be tiresome or dull” first attested 1768, a vogue word c.1780-81, possibly a figurative extension of “to move forward slowly and steadily.”
“The secret of being a bore is to tell everything.” [Voltaire, "Sept Discours en Vers sur l'Homme," 1738]
Boredom “state of being bored” first recorded 1852; boring “wearisome” is from 1840.
From the Online Etymological Dictionary
Dana,
Yes, I remember the “fun” discussion.
Thanks for adding the detailed etymology. I looked at that site today but decided against adding it to my post since my son’s lesson wasn’t that in depth. This is a perfect place for it!
I remember in college, when we were studying about the skin, the teacher made it a game and we earned “money” for correct answers; also in another class, we each took turns preparing the lessons like we were the teacher. We could have speakers or a film plus of course lectures. Maybe when he does like history, he can draw a battle scene..since he likes making castles or attack plans. I do not see anything wrong with making lessons fun sometimes
Angie, I don’t think you are talking about the same thing that Renae is.
Education should be meaningful, inspiring…even exciting at times. We can enjoy it immensely and that is a wonderful thing.
The kind of “fun” you mentioned has nothing to do with the idle pleasure of video games. It is enriching and has value of its own.
I don’t think the problem is that Renae (or I) don’t think children should enjoy learning. But that isn’t really what “fun” or “amusing” means. We don’t want to raise children who expect to be entertained.
From what you said, it sounds like you do things a lot like I do to keep my children engaged and active. It is “fun” in the more modern, common usage, but I prefer words like “relevant,” “active” or “engaging.”
But we PAers tend to be sort of weird about definitions!
No. I wasn’t crusing blog sites seeking to be amused when I accidentally ended up here. I swear I wasn’t!
No seriously, I really wasn’t. But as I was reading your blog I did find it amusing. I also found it to be encouraging. You are obviously doing a great job parenting and for that I commend you.
Now I need to get back to studying! Thank you!
Angie,
Dana did a nice job of addressing your comment. I was going to clarify what I meant by “fun” but she beat me to it. Because I completely agree with her ideas and I probably wouldn’t be so eloquent, I will let her reply suffice.
Those of us using the Principle Approach as our educational philosophy constantly try to define the words we use and hopefully you will see why in a coming post. Dana has some inspiring thoughts on this subject and she has generously granted me permission to repost them.
Dana,
Thanks for replying to Angie. I couldn’t have said it better myself. :)
Michael,
That was a good joke! Is my blog really amusing? I hope it caused you to think at least a little bit. :)
While I was proofreading this post I was struck by the correlation in my own life of having “fun” on the internet. I am not immune to the temptations to play instead of work.
Thank you for your kind words. It is not always obvious that I am doing a great job parenting. You weren’t in the car yesterday when my children were hitting each other and screaming.
There are times I want to hide, and once or twice I have indeed locked myself in the bedroom, but the Bible says not to become weary in well doing. I just hope that tired and weary are two different things. I better go get the dictionary…
Sorry that I was misunderstood. I believe in what u said. It is just I was trying to figure out ways for your son not to be bored about his lessons. I am sure that u do a lot better job than I did.
Angie,
I’m sorry that I didn’t acknowledge my appreciation for your ideas. I am always looking for new ways to enliven our lessons and yours are very good. Thank you!
I don’t believe that Bug is truly bored with his lessons. Once he gets started he enjoys learning. It is his initial reaction to work that I am trying to address.
This is an issue of semantics. The roots of the word fun mean “vulgar amusement” but we don’t necessarily use it that way in our society. It usually means that we liked something. Neighbors used to tell each other to “work hard” now we say, “Have fun.” These kind of changes in word use intrigue me. In our culture we seem to be seeking pleasure so much that we miss the rewards of hard work.
Renae, I can’t remember if I told you or Dana this once, but my uncle told me when I was young that “boredom is a character flaw.” I think what he was getting at is that boredom isn’t about the outward circumstance in which you find yourself, but about an inward issue of your character.
Jennifer,
It must have been Dana because I think I would have remembered such a wise statement. Thank you for sharing it with me.
Boredom is most assuredly a choice. Maybe we can start an internet campaign, “Just say no to boredom.” No, that focuses on the negative. How much better to give our children a wonderful book, a rewarding job, or a few art supplies with which to be creative!
I like to say, “Often desperate. Never bored.” :) I think a lot of times a child who says he’s bored isn’t actually bored. He’s just using it to push a hot button on his mother. :) It sure does push a hot button on me, the three or four times my son has said it, before he figured out it wasn’t worth enduring the “Intelligent people are never bored” lecture. ;)
Yes my kids have learned not to use that word cause I have lots of things to make them ‘unbored’! ( : Hee, hee,hee!
Lydia,
I have been there! Did you see my Desperation post?
I think I agree with your statement about hot buttons. I have never heard my son say he was bored when free to play. He will find all kind of creative things to do and frequently he will use books and even lessons as a basis for his ideas. You should see what he can make out of Legos!
Mandi,
I have done that as well. If children are “bored” I can always find something for them to do. Work has a reward that we miss if we are seeking to be entertained all the time.
An excellent post! I think I’ll read this one to the kiddos. And I’ll link to it, too.
I thought it was interesting, per Dana’s comment, that “to be a bore” preceeded “being bored”.
BTW thank you so much for the award. I will be getting it up on my blog…I just haven’t had time.
Rebecca,
Thank you for the link.
I’m sure that your children will really enjoy this lesson. Maybe not initially, but eventually they will know the blessing of choosing not to be bored.
The etymology is interesting. Since the word is derived from making a hole, it seems to me, that the hollow, empty person is the one we find “being bored.”
You are welcome for the award. Please don’t feel pressure to get it up. It is just a nice way to say I enjoy your blog.
We’ve abolished the word “bored” in our house. Now my 7-year-old walks around saying, “I have nothing to do…” And then I give her something to do. But she never seems happy at this solution LOL
:D My teens say something more along the lines of, “I have loads of stuff to do, but nothing I really want to do…”
Your site reminded me of my Grandmother. I received her rather large dictionary when she moved. She made all her children look up words when they couldn’t figure them out. Thus, my mother did that and now I make my children use the Oxford English Dictionary, so they really get those meanings.
Love your blog…I’ll definitely be visiting again soon.
[...] Bored of Amusment…has come up with a very clever way to help her son come to the realization that as fun as games can be there is more to life. There are more lastings things in life and more fulfilling things in life then just being amused by your passive playthings. And, that reminds me of the lovely and quite large dictionary I have sitting on my end table shelf. The one my dear Grandmother (who is still alive and in our mid 80’s) made all her dear children look up words in. My sons google everything or use the Oxford English Dictionary (online of course). If you do not know about the Oxford English Dictionary you might want to see if your local library system or a reciprocal system has a subscription in it’s database. Many major city or large county systems will gladly allow you to have a library account with them even if you don’t live in their region. [...]
Faerie Rebecca and Andrea,
Aren’t semantics interesting? Young people have a way of twisting words to get what they want, don’t they? For that matter, so do husbands. :)
Shangrilewis,
Thank you for sharing the sweet memory of your grandmother.
How come I didn’t inherit a dictionary? I had to buy ours. Hopefully I will start a wonderful dictionary tradition, too.
Please don’t think I am ungrateful. I have old books in almost every room, an antique sewing machine, and a beautiful quilt my great-grandmother made.
[...] presents Bored of Amusement posted at Life Nurturing Education, saying, “This is my blog about home education where I [...]