OVERVIEW

Although boredom prevails among many adolescents, there has been little research done on the subject. This study encourages and establishes guidelines for further research.

PURPOSE

To determine among secondary students "the frequency of boredom, the circumstances under which it is experienced, leisure, feelings occurring when one is bored, and the means of escaping boredom."

DESIGN

Noted by the study report, "An adolescent questionnaire, similar to that used by Luijpen (5) and Knoers (2) was distributed in classrooms...of seven secondary schools located in different regions of Senegal...694 respondents completed the forms—201 girls, 472 boys, and 21 who did not specify gender. Most of the subjects were in fifth form, and their ages were mostly 13 and 14. 166 of these students lived in rural villages; the others lived in cities."

In addition to objective data, the questionnaire included the following items:

• Do you get bored? (a) often, (b) sometimes, (c) never.
• Do you have pastimes? (a) a lot, (b) average, (c) a few.
• When do you mostly get bored? (a) during your spare time, (b) during your holiday, (c) at school, (d) other circumstances.
• How do you feel when you are bored?
• Do you try to do something to combat boredom? If so, what do you do?

FINDINGS

• One third of these students were often bored.
• Almost one quarter of them were bored at school.

Feelings associated with boredom included

One eighth of all respondents could not escape boredom.

The principal means of escaping boredom for the rest were

• Girls were less bored than boys (p = .05). Boys were often bored at school; girls experienced boredom during holidays. Girls were more subject to headaches; boys commonly reported fatigue. To escape boredom, boys turned often to music and sports, while girls went visiting or studied at home.
• Rural students were more often bored (p = .05) than others, especially at school.
• To escape boredom, younger students turned more to studies; older students to reading, music, and visiting friends.

CONCLUSIONS

• Some students’ boredom stems from feelings of cultural alienation from the school curriculum. Many of them are convinced that school curricula and syllabi are ill-suited to the African context. They question the relevance of many of their studies. It is suggested that "this feeling of estrangement could be therefore the basis of the boredom they so often experienced at school." The finding that rural students are more often bored than others strengthens this conclusion.
• This author notes that Luijpen, in an associated study, considers "anxiety as the beginning of a defensive reaction against boredom."

CRITIQUE AND EVALUATION

• It is noteworthy that this study on boredom is from Senegal, Africa. Still, both its structure and findings are, to a large degree, universally relevant among young people.
• Students who are comfortable with and active in academic and cocurricular school activities and those with good friends are much less likely to experience boredom. Instead, they are likely to suffer more from pressure or stress. The relationship of stress and boredom are worthy of serious discussion.

IMPLICATIONS

1. School is often the main occupation of young people. The contextualization of teaching and content into the culture of students is critical.
2. Studies of boredom need to be done also among "class cutters" and school dropouts.
3. While or until serious further research is done in this area, teachers and youth leaders might adapt the questionnaire above to their students and young friends. Most of them would be interested in comparing the results of their surveys with those of these African students. The discussion of such results should provide significant insights.