Why is boredom such a rampant part of our daily lives? Boredom has probably existed since the age of cavemen, so one would think mankind’s rapid progress in technology and society would allow us to provide a solution for it by now. On the contrary, boredom lives and grows in proportions unparalleled in the history of human civilization. What is causing boredom to continue to live on like this?

In America, even the poorest of people live lives that others in third world countries would envy. Clean, running water from sinks, bathrooms, and electricity are just a few examples of the luxurious life we live in America. Did I just say luxurious? People have forgotten how conveniently we can attain these basic human needs compared to the rest of the world and our recent past.

Twenty years ago, the computer was this mysterious machine that nobody really knew about. Now, I don’t think anyone could live a day without a computer. Entire businesses, schools, and other organizations are now run by computers and the help of the growing speed of the internet. The use of computers, a revolution that took the world by storm only a decade ago, is only a redundant part of everyday life now.

Where am I trying to get to with these seemingly irrelevant stories about our country? Everyone has become dulled down. Especially for the people of America, it seems as though we have gone there, seen that, and done it all. Everything is boring and nothing is exciting anymore. This is a problem which affects everyone, but it especially affects adolescent kids and teenagers. Adults, almost always have a job to do, whether they are parents, professionals, or even students seeking a new career. Although most adolescents and teenagers are students, they are the ones with the greatest amount of free time. They are the ones always talking about how bored they are. They are the ones most likely to turn to drugs. They are the ones most likely to become depressed. They are the ones that dwell in the state of boredom, sometimes turning towards a destructive path in order to fill that insatiable emptiness. Thus, boredom is a problem.

Boredom requires a solution. In order to solve boredom, we need to know what it means. Some people use the term “bored” to describe something, as an adjective. For example, “That movie Hellboy was so ‘boring’, I fell asleep.” “There’s nothing to do here, this town is so ‘boring’.” Another example is when people will simply use the word “bored” to say that they are not satisfied with what they are doing at that moment. “Wow, I’m really bored right now. Let’s go do something else.”

Regardless of the many different ways the word ‘bored’ can be used, people are still technically using it correctly since boredom is merely a word attempting to describe an emotion. Boredom is an emotion, or the state of mind in which the mind is not being stimulated enough, or an experience that is not satisfying enough for a person, manifested into a one word description. If boredom depends on a person’s state of mind, then it would vary from person to person, which makes it purely subjective. Something what is new and exciting for one person may be dull and tedious for another person because either he has already experienced it, or he has no interest in it. Imagine a teenager driving for the first time, preparing to get his permit, and having the time of his life because he has waited for this for 16 years. Now imagine a grown adult who drives everyday, driving his kids to school, to work, to the grocery store, to run errands, and to beat rush hour. (Jagaro)

Basically a person eventually loses interest for certain kinds of experiences and becomes dulled down, or just simply gets tired of it. That is why people are always searching and seeking for something “new” or more “exciting” than what they are currently doing. People are always seeking the answer to “This is boring. What else can we do?” This is especially the case for adolescents and teenagers, since they have probably done everything and anything that can be classified as “fun” in the area they live in. Regardless of how bored kids may be, what is it about boredom that makes these kids miserable enough to turn to drugs or become overwhelmed with emotions of loneliness and depression?

Several major studies by organizations such as CASA (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse), MORI (Market & Opinion Research International) and Columbia University showed strikingly similar results dealing with boredom, some extra cash, and drugs.

"Young people ages 12 to 17 who are frequently bored are 50 percent likelier than those not often bored to smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal drugs, said the study by the university's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. Those with $25 or more a week in spending money are nearly twice as likely as those with less to smoke, drink and use illegal drugs, and more than twice as likely to get drunk, the study said."

Both Columbia University and CASA studied and found virtually identical results about how boredom can factor in an adolescent and teenager’s decision to turn to drugs in order to have fun. The studies, which result from a survey of almost two thousand students, continue with a list of numbers and facts saying that the “The proportion of students who say that drugs are used, kept or sold at their high schools is up 18 percent over 2002, from 44 to 52 percent.” Basically every percentage, proportion, and possible number leans toward the fact that drugs are becoming more accessible than ever before for kids, even to a point where many parents are saying there is nothing that can be done about it and that drugs will always be part of a school. (CASA)

With drugs like alcohol and marijuana so easily accessible, and even affordable, there seems to be nothing really stopping an adolescent or a teenager from taking drugs to escape boredom. Boredom is most definitely not the only problem teenagers are going through either. Stress caused by things including but not limited to puberty, academic studies, family problems, peer pressure to have drugs or sex, and going to college or the work field causes the likely hood of an often bored teenager to turn to drugs to increase even more. (USA Today) Boredom is often found mixed together as a factor for teenagers to turn to drugs with high stress, but it can also be found with scenarios where teenagers will fall into loneliness and depression.

The adolescent stage of teenagers growing up can arguably be the peak ages for the lowest self esteem. Until recently, adolescent depression was not seen as a major problem since it was masked by common behavioral changes caused by physical and emotional growth. However, health officials now acknowledge adolescent depression as a growing, widespread problem. And although suicide rates among teenagers have quadrupled in the last two decades, making it the third highest killer of teenagers in America, public schools continue to choose to ignore the issue. What does this have to do with boredom? (Nunley)

When adolescent teenagers, more susceptible to feelings of loneliness or depression, fall into a state of boredom, there is a higher chance that detrimental thoughts will begin to float around in their head. Now I’m not saying that every adolescent who finds some free time to become bored will contemplate suicide, but the possibility that many do still exists. After all, the emotions of boredom that run through a person can easily transform or be accompanied and followed by feelings of “loneliness, emptiness, helplessness, inadequacy, sadness, despair, and even depression,” according to Chuck Gallozzi of personal-development.com. In the pursuit for happiness, teenagers may once again turn to drugs or sex to escape whatever woes they may have. (Gallozzi)

Why does everyone think drugs and sex are the solutions to all problems dealing with life? It’s probably our need for instant gratification. We live in a society where everything has to be instant, and nothing requires waiting. We want instant meals using the microwave, or instant communication using programs like AOL Instant Messenger. Thanks to glorious inventions of the computer and the internet, we don’t even have to wait in lines anymore, buying tickets for transportation, movies or even delivery orders for food. It only makes sense that most of us try to solve boredom with “quick fixes” like drugs. Usually teenagers would probably turn to entertainment like movies or videogames in order to solve boredom, but even that gets old. “Let’s do something new. How about pot? Why not? We’ve never tried that before!”

The problem is that those solutions are only temporary, but their consequences may be permanent since they allow us to fall into a trap of addiction and more misery. Ultimately, boredom can not be solved by using “quick fixes” like drugs because by doing so would only be trying to escape the problem instead of genuinely fixing it.

Maybe the real problem continues to be the fact that there really isn’t enough to do for teenagers. That’s not what Jerry Berenger, an investigator with the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control thinks. He believes the “I'm bored” complaint is not legitimate for the teenagers complaining that they turn to alcohol because there isn’t enough to do. In his case, he moved to Redding from the San Francisco Bay area when he was 15, and, while he wasn't thrilled with living in the “boondocks,” he said he kept busy with sports and outdoor activities like hunting and fishing.

However, Detective Berenger refuted his own argument by saying “That's a lame excuse. Where is it written we must entertain our children?” he said. “There's stuff to do; it just depends on what they want to do.” That’s exactly it. Not everyone lives to be wild, and is not interested in outdoor activities or sports. (Long)

When a survey was taken by MORI, asking questions about why teenagers might turn to crime because of boredom, six out of 10 young people, and eight out of 10 parents believed there wasn’t enough to do in the area they live in. Eight out of 10 parents also believed that young people are very likely to turn to crime because they have nothing to turn to and nowhere to go to spend their free time. The situation doesn’t look very different on college campuses either as we take a look at Pennsylvania State University.

Pennsylvania State University – University Park exemplifies why so many college students choose to party, drink, and get completely trashed every weekend. There really is nothing to do. Personally I’m more of a social drinker that would rather drink at least a Coors Lite than have to turn to fraternity parties and their garbage Natural Lites. Regardless, I don’t drink often because it’s only fun once in awhile. What are my other options for the weekend? I can watch movies, play videogames, or play basketball. How ironic, that sounds like my weekdays too. Penn State also makes a pathetic attempt at trying to turn students away from drinking by providing “Late Nite Activities” at the Hub-Robesen Center where students have the option of getting balloon animals, playing board games or making arts and crafts. It almost seems like Penn State wants students to continue to party hard, in order for Penn State to continue to be known as a big “party” school as a twisted marketing ploy for attracting prospective students. But that’s another topic.

The solution to boredom is actually quite simple. Just as our bodies tell us a message to eat when we become hungry, our minds are trying to tell us something when we are bored. “Stop doing this. Do something else.” What is that something else? Since the state of boredom is passive, then its opposite must be the solution, which is activity and creativity. Whether it’s your job and career that is boring you or the way you are spending your free time, you have to stop whatever you are doing and change. Think about the times when you aren’t bored. When you aren’t bored, you’re busy doing something, whether it’s taking an important test, working out at the gym, or reading an interesting article. What do all these activities have in common? Whether you are challenging your body or challenging your mind, challenge allows your body or mind to constantly grow in shapes and forms unprecedented in your lives. (Gallozzi) Boredom is a warning sign that says that you have become too stagnant, stationary, and complacent with your life. Boredom is a warning that says you are too caught up in a redundant, repetitive life which limits your abilities to expand in whatever way possible. Everyone, especially the youth of America, must learn to listen to their biological warning signs, just as anyone would listen to their stomachs if it were about to die of hunger. (Snaith)

Works Cited