School is boring

ivar

ivar

I don't know how much discussion this promotes and I don't feel like writing a fantastically researched and erudite OP but considering the almost universal (at the very least) appreciation or understanding of boredom at school... I think reasonable conjectures can be made without much effort on my part!

I'm in university. I've switched majors many times and have dabbled in just about everything university has to offer in terms of course selection (English, Philosophy, French, Computer Science, Mathematics, Logic (belongs to Philosophy but it's quite different), Cognitive Science, Economics, Political Science, I wanna try Women's Studies or Drama as well). I can't experiment much anymore if I want to complete my degree in four years, though luckily Philosophy majors have a lot of leeway for electives.

And I'm still bored and don't care for anything I'm ever taught. There are moments where something is kinda cool, but overall it is a mission to get through a lecture. The only reason I even tolerate school is because I always get good grades and it's nice to know you are good at something (especially so valued). I plan on going to law school but the more I think about... how the hell will I survive? Law school is infinitely more boring than anything I have ever taken and then what... have a boring lawyer job? The more I think about it the more I think that school just isn't for me.. but I'm good at it and don't know what else to do.

My personal issues aside, I mean do any of you HONESTLY like school? And not the contrived "yeah we learn about interesting phenomena in physics" but a serious love of school, say on the level of... playing a sport, or videogame or visiting smogon or something like that. I never believe anyone that says they actually like university (or school at all)... it's more like "in comparison to how shitty school usually is, my subject of "interest" (major) is significantly less shitty (but still shitty, ultimately)".

And why is this so common (anecdotal evidence alert)? Is it the way it is structured or something inherent in the nature or being made to learn instead of learning as you go along doing fun stuff. Shoddy laddering would be way less fun if you had to memorize sets or you were being lectured on Jirachi's elemental weaknesses, but it can be (kinda) fun as you build a team and battle opponents (learning as you go along).

Or maybe it's access to videogames which is way more entertaining? Then again, people in 60s should have been much less bored in school and I don't know how true that is.

Thoughts?
 
You're probably so used to having entertainment on demand.. Adapting to the school/work/etc is only as boring as you make it out to be.
 
For me, I do actually like school. Not because I'm interested in the subjects we're learning, but because I like to be around these people and I really love the teachers. I don't mind learning more; I'm always interested to learn things and it's exciting for me when I retain things and recall them later on in the day or week. I guess I'm a pretty rare person though, and I'm sure that if I had gone to a worse elementary school I would not be like this at all.

Now, addressing mostly your question about why we find school boring:

I'd say a major factor in why we find that school is boring is because of the way the world works now. People are looking to have things now, not later. They want whatever they want as soon as possible, and if it takes to long they lose interest. Would you order fast food over a restaurant if it took longer for the food to make? Chances are, you'd shell out a few extra bucks if you could get the food quicker.

Electronics (video games, computers) play another role in this; I'm sure of it. If we need something fun to do, we can hook up our Xbox or Wii, play our favorite game and get satisfaction right away. We get our fun right away and it's exciting for us. We can look up whatever we want, watch whatever we want, play whatever we want, and it's all right there at our fingertips. We get whatever we want at literally any given moment (as long as we're within distance lol).

As for school, in junior and senior high, classes vary around an hour, meaning you get everything out of the class in an hour. And not only that, most people know that they could get it faster. There is always that slow person, or that person who doesn't get it who just slows down the entire class and forces you to wait longer on something you already understand. Even if you are in love with the subject, with a passion for it like video games, you probably want the class to go faster and take less time. You only have 24 hours in a day, and you want to make the most of it, I'm sure. Why spend extra time on something you don't need to?

So really, yes, it is the new technology and advances in civilization that have made things so easy to get that it's made our tolerance for anything slow almost non-existent. The school system has not advanced, though, in the speed they teach us with. The speed is the same as it always has been, same length classes, even if they don't need to be that long. So our impatience kicks in and makes us become less interested in the class or subject we're learning. By the fourth or fifth class of the day, it's possible to be so fed up with it that there isn't even paying attention anymore - all that exists is thoughts of how to get out of this or how it could be much faster.

That's my input, anyway.
 
Yeah I kinda addressed that... lazily. People have been bored at school for a long time, preceding the strong emphasis on entertainment media. Most people likely had televisions back in 1940 (not sure tbh) but it wasn't nearly the force it is today. And they were just as bored at school. At the very least I can speak for my grandparents (and they lived on a farm with not much to do) that they found school tedious and dull. Plus, if all entertainment does is magnify just how inferior school is comparatively... then it's probably just because school inherently boring (glitzy entertainment or not).

I have this intuition (that is grounding is some sensibility and not just completely random conjecture) that school sucks because... that's how we are. Most of us cannot find school interesting and we have to struggle to find amusement in it. Plus, stylish one I'm not counting talking with your buddies during class, but the actively "school" part... as in learning classroom material

I just REALLY don't think it's nearly as simple as "well in society we think now and we are really fast-paced and we have the internet and no patience and rabble rabble rabble". I think there is a deeper and less obvious issue (and probably without a feasible solution)
 
My best advice to you would be to increase your curiosity levels. Renting books for free from your library district via the internet, or searching for information about stuff on the internet is a great way to find out what you love for very low prices.

Looking at your personality and what you like to do also helps you choose what you might like to read/do.

Probably the most important thing though is to not give up trying to find something you like. Give everything that seems boring more of a chance than you are willing to give to really find out if you like it or not, and make sure to try new venues of information after you have given it more time.

A lot of people and myself included may have a hard time trying to find good books, programs, etc to start out with and Internet forums are a great solution to this. Just put your pride on the shelf, ask the question you have in the appropriate forum in the appropriate section and give it a day or two to sit in. Not only are your experiences very important in deciding these things, but others can prove just as useful and you should explore other methods as well to see which one fits right for you.

From my experience, this is a much more leisurely and relaxing way of learning with the same sense of accomplishment you get from sitting in a classroom. That's not to say that I don't brush up on the quintessential skills like math, the various applications of it in everyday life and english routinely.

I know this doesnt exactly answer your question, but I think its a good (but definitely not the only) routine add in with standard schooling to make it more palatable.

Cheers, THE_IRON_KENYAN
 
I've always loved learning, particularly learning how to do new things. I enjoy pattern-finding and systematising, and so I've always loved mathematics (it honestly feels like solving a puzzle in a video game or something to me, so I actually enjoy maths exams/assignments) and physics which is just using mathematics to dissect the system of the universe, much like breaking down the mechanics of a video game.

I enjoy certain aspects of law because they are quite analytical, like contract, but I also like certain other less-formalised areas of law like competition and intellectual property because they act as a study in systematising and structuring power and enforcement of abstracts.


If you don't have a blazing passion for law, I would advise not going into law school. It will probably end up being a waste of your time. Burnout Syndrome, as they call it, is a problem even for those who do enjoy law, but going in without any interest is almost going to guarantee you a career in a field where original thought is limited (except in tax) and hours are long.
 
The reason it pains me to avoid law is because I already did my LSAT. It just seems like a complete waste of my life to avoid it. I have been considered getting a degree and using that as some sort of leeway into a better than entry position at an advertising agency, or maybe study sports law/entertainment law and somehow use that to put my foot in the door toward a career as a sports agent. I don't need to be a lawyer with a J.D. and it looks infinitely more posh on a resume than a paltry B.A.

It's just going to really suck those three years of schooling. I think I'll stock up on adderall. I don't have exceptional genius so I doubt I will be able to continue to not study and excel in law school so adderall might even be a necessity (yikes). Or maybe I can scrounge a B.

And though I appreciate the advice TIK I don't think it will help (it's just who I am)... but more than that I don't really care for advice at all (good or bad). I'm interested in the psychology of what makes school so damn dull. Any psych majors wanna chime in?
 
I write essay papers for these 101/201 classes for people, it pads my pocket and garners respect. When they get A's in all their classes it just makes me think, gosh that could have been my A. If I had been taking the class instead of just scanning a textbook it would have been an *awesome* paper.

I hear lots of people get bored in school but I really wish I could be taking classes to despair and get bored of and procrastinate in. I've been doing this working-to-make-ends-meet crap for about five years now, I'd like to become an educated lady now! ;o
 
Why in the world do you want to be a lawyer if law bores you and you hate school? I think you should look at what you enjoy and then look for classes that will help you do what you enjoy. Maybe then you'll start enjoying school a bit more.

Personally I don't enjoy school because I don't like how it's structured (exams, midterms, boring readings) and because half my profs are not qualified to teach. I do like the people I've met at school and some of my courses.

It may be a "waste of your life" to get out of law, but it would be a greater waste of your life to spend another 3 or 4 years doing what you hate. Very few people get their undergrad in 4 years. I'm taking 5. Some of my friends are taking 6. A few I know took 7 and others are taking even longer.
 
apathy said:
I write essay papers for these 101/201 classes for people, it pads my pocket and garners respect. When they get A's in all their classes it just makes me think, gosh that could have been my A. If I had been taking the class instead of just scanning a textbook it would have been an *awesome* paper.
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You want to be careful with that; it depends on your region/institution, but you could be guilty of academic fraud, which can lead to expulsions (if you're actually enrolled, which doesn't seem to be so) or even legal implications in some cases (although it's unlikely for low-level courses like that).

@OP: While it's true that law degrees don't mean you -have- to be a lawyer, if you're not actually going into a legal field there is generally a more useful/more interesting alternative degree available.

I agree with Firestorm, you need to look at what it is that interests you and then structure any potential career/education around that.
 
I was going stir-crazy in the 3/4 month transition from high school to tertiary education; I've been going for just over two weeks and I am very happy to be back.

However, I'm not sure whether that's just because I'm enjoying what I'm doing or that I'm enjoying the fact that I'm doing something.
 
I've taken an eclectic mix of courses, there isn't something that's "for me": I just don't like school. I hope to use a law degree to facilitate some other line of work and plus I mean realistically what... I spend how many years figuring out what I already know and have a crappy degree to show for it. Not finishing a bachelor's in 4 years makes no sense I mean it's not like I struggle in school so why penalize myself in the job market? I don't know how true finishing in 4 years is rare claim of yours, but I am not one of those people. I could drop I suppose but I am not that resourceful and would like a degree of sorts to show for it.

Anyways, I would like to steer the conversation away from me! I gave a personal anecdote and have responded with others merely to address concerns of other posters but I am not interesting too much in myself but rather conversation of the underlying roots of boredom at school. I did not post this thread as a self-help topic since I understand my situation exactly, I just want to know how others feel about this.

We spend so much time at school and it is an easy thing to hate. Sure, the common response will be "it is repetitive, or media culture" but I truly think that there is something fascinating about this phenomena of school that does beyond superficial, common sensical drivel that we always hear and that is truly worthy of discussion.

For example, I truly think that 99% (bullshit statistic, of course) are not interested in school and most who say they are are delusional. When you have something that you are interested in, you actively think about and are excited about it. You may say that this could be true for school but we do it so often that the novelty of its wears thin. This seems reasonable, but what about facebook or fuck even going on smogon. I'll be honest it can be kinda boring and if we are to examine superficially the excitement of content on smogon to some mind-blowing historical event like the French Revolution (with the violence and brutality that we love) it is infinitely more interesting. Yet many find history boring, and even outside of classroom settings. Why is this? I think we are drawn to certain things, like socializing that even if the socializing itself is dull (like small talk or mundane conversation) we can STILL be interested, but with something scholastic, we can be bored even if the content is very interesting... probably because something about it repels us. Seriously, if you think of most of your conversations they are awkward snooze-fests, either because most don't have interesting things to say or lack that "wow" charisma that makes actors watchable... yet we socialize with almost autistic like fervor (the irony of which does not escape me).

That's why I think it is the nature of school to lick balls and all this self-help advice is really comedic (I've been rolling my eyes at some of these responses... sorry). It seems to me that people are suggesting that the solution to the problem of boredom at school is only to deeper submerge myself within the problem, or divert myself with bits of irrelevance.

For example, you will often hear, when someone says "school is boring" that "that's the way it is; you gotta get a job; all things of value you have to work for, and so forth" when you are not describing a real solution or even answering the question as to why school is boring but rather just saying you gotta do it... It just seems absurd. And you don't have to do it. It's easy to get stuck in it (like me) but despite being stuck I am not deluded enough to rationalize my stuckness as though it is something inevitable force. It almost seems like a coping mechanism: we gotta do it; it will be worthwhile and you gotta work for all things worthwhile.

It honestly seems like a sad, fucking joke that we are oblivious to. What do you guys think (please no advice on how to spice things up at school)? Is there something I am missing here?
 
Some people enjoy learning. School is obviously not for you. We have people here who are doing, or will be starting soon, their PhDs. If the accumulation of knowledge doesn't interest you, then yes, school isn't for you. Go up there to the podium, take your useless degree, know that you spent $20,000 or $100,000 or however much degrees cost in your school/country and find a job. I find it interesting that you can't comprehend how anybody could possibly like researching in fields they have an interest in.

Personally, my professors in the fields I'm most interested in have been a let down so I just want to get the hell out of here with my piece of paper and find a job. I don't have a large interest in entering a graduate program.
 
So, you're asking what it is that makes school boring?

I think if anything, it's probably the routine and monotony at all. I didn't particularly like high school, but I had a better time of it than most do, and I preferred it than my weekend work.

Certainly, university is generally enjoyed a lot more by most people than high school, and I think it's probably in part because they don't have to study things they're not interested in anymore, but I think it's largely because of the additional freedom and lifestyle.


I would say that while everyone finds aspects of schooling and education boring, I'd say that it's few who derive no enjoyment whatsoever from learning.

The only other component I can think of is that for a lot of people, they're just lazy. They don't want to achieve and get a good job or anything, they just want to laze back and let life go.
 
School isn't too bad except for the double periods in which you just sit your ass on the chair and get bored to death for 2 hours straight.

But once you've made friends it becomes more passable and you kind of have a way to pass the time while the teacher goes on blabbering about some shit.

Another thing in our school is that the school has given us personal laptops for the entire year and so when me and my friends get bored in double period Maths, we just start playing Halo.. :D
 
Personally, my professors in the fields I'm most interested in have been a let down so I just want to get the hell out of here with my piece of paper and find a job. I don't have a large interest in entering a graduate program.
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Bolded part. I believe that's where the root lies for many. Even if the subject is dull, a teacher can make it really interesting, but if the teacher sucks, the subject gets boring as hell.

I'll use a personal experience on this one: We had to choose what we do High Level and Standard Level in the 2 coming years just a month back or so (corresponds to Majors and Minors in the other systems I assume). The teachers talked to us about the subjects and what we are going to do in them during those 2 years. Now, I've been interested in psychology after we started with it this year, and was planning to take it. The teacher that talked about it for 15 minutes made it sound 10 times so exiting than the teacher that has had it to us for 3 months now. When we heard we won't get her, but maybe the teacher we have now, a few of those who took it (7 took it alltogether, all HL) considered to take something else, so they don't have to stand the teacher for 2 more years.
 
Hang in there man, very few people like school. I personally don't like it at all and feel that most of the classes are boring, and in many of my classes kids are consistently annoying trying to be funny and make crappy jokes all the time. The only good things about school is friends and sports(swimming for me =D)
 
ivar said:
The reason it pains me to avoid law is because I already did my LSAT. It just seems like a complete waste of my life to avoid it.
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Sunk cost fallacy.

Opinions on education differ. In compulsory schooling it's natural for there to be a lot of people disinterested. For the most part, such people leave education ASAP - while work may be just as boring they at least get paid for it!

It sounds to me like despite having tried many subjects, you may not have found what you love doing. And it's quite possible that what you love doing isn't at University at all.

So if you're not studying for love of it, why are you studying? If it's to get a better job in the future, then you need to regard it as an investment and make your choices accordingly. If it's for the social life, then that's fine, there's nothing wrong in that, but do ensure you accept the expense.

But if you cannot think of any reason why you are at University, you should consider dropping out. How wise a decision that is depends on how far along you are. If you could graduate soon, then it's probably best to just do so, but if graduation is a good few years away no matter what, then maybe you should do something else. You could also look into taking some sort of sandwich year perhaps, or a time at a foreign uni maybe, that sort of stuff, for a change of pace without irreversibly quitting. Of course, Murphy's Law says you'll probably regret your decision no matter what it is.

For myself, when I was at University I loved my studies and the social life. It was easily the best 4 years of my life, and damn I miss it. Of course not everything could be good - many morning lectures got slept through, exam periods got crazy, projects even worse, and nobody likes doing fieldwork in foul weather. But would I do it again? Hell yeah! (Maybe I should apply for a PhD...)

ivar said:
For example, I truly think that 99% (bullshit statistic, of course) are not interested in school and most who say they are are delusional.
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For what it's worth, Smogon probably isn't representative of the general population on that fact.

As for when I was in compulsory education - for the most part I was interested. Sure, there were some awful lessons, and I pulled a few sickies, but not too many. Then again, I am the sort of person who is inherently interested in learning. When I was at junior school I read the DK science encyclopedia for fun. As myself and technology have aged that's given way to reading all sorts of random Wikipedia articles. The best parts of my current job are when I'm learning about and using computer technologies I've never worked with before.

MrIndigo said:
Certainly, university is generally enjoyed a lot more by most people than high school, and I think it's probably in part because they don't have to study things they're not interested in anymore, but I think it's largely because of the additional freedom and lifestyle.
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This could be tested by looking at UK sixth forms, for study between ages 16-18. The environment is like school (many are part of schools, while others are stand-alone), yet the majority of people are there because they have chosen to be there (though doubtless some are pushed into it by their parents). The impression I got at my sixth form college was that most people were interested in at least some of their subjects, and there certainly weren't anything like the discipline problems found in compulsory school.
Any such study better be done soon, cause the government have gone and raised the compulsory schooling age. That's gonna make sixth form like school, with all the behaviour issue messing things up for those who actually want to learn, which sucks. I seriously wish our government would leave the educational system the hell alone. Or else my kids'll have to be homeschooled.
/tangent

The LegendKiller said:
School isn't too bad except for the double periods in which you just sit your ass on the chair and get bored to death for 2 hours straight.
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That's dumb timetabling. The optimum lesson length is 1 hour. Shorter - for example the 35 minute lessons common at many schools - means too much time proportionately is lost to the start and end of lessons. Longer means boredom sets in badly - I suffered that in the 80 minute lessons I had for some classes at 6th form.
The exception is science lessons where longer periods are good for experiments. But there you still have to balance it against boredom when it's not an experimental lesson.

On, and one parting note - being lectured maths didn't remotely work for myself at least. That's why in my first year I got a 2:2 in maths but a 1st in my other three subjects - including physics, which I slept through about the same (high) amount of the lectures as I did in maths.
 
I like school a lot. I just have a passion for learning. You have to be motivated and you have to have decent teachers. When you're motivated, the difference between a decent and great teacher is actually small, because you're so into the work. Some days are just bad, but I take that as an inevitability. Most days are fantastic. I get a physics lecture, then a history lecture and video, then some chemistry stuff I don't understand but really want to, then calculus bc (the most fun I've ever had in a math class). Those are all AP classes. After that I had to understand my constraints and took a free 5th period, health (needed the credit), and strength and conditioning to stay in shape. You have to know what's right for you. For example, I'm taking AP chemistry more because I loved the idea of chemistry. My teacher is meh and the workload doesn't make you understand anything. But I really want to understand it because I still have that underlying passion for chemistry, even if only the idea of chemistry. If you don't have any underlying joy in learning something new, why go further than high school? Most people figure this out too late, and some never do. It's all on you.
 
cantab said:
This could be tested by looking at UK sixth forms, for study between ages 16-18. The environment is like school (many are part of schools, while others are stand-alone), yet the majority of people are there because they have chosen to be there (though doubtless some are pushed into it by their parents). The impression I got at my sixth form college was that most people were interested in at least some of their subjects, and there certainly weren't anything like the discipline problems found in compulsory school.
Any such study better be done soon, cause the government have gone and raised the compulsory schooling age. That's gonna make sixth form like school, with all the behaviour issue messing things up for those who actually want to learn, which sucks. I seriously wish our government would leave the educational system the hell alone. Or else my kids'll have to be homeschooled.
/tangent
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The same is true here, only it's occurred gradually. While the HSC is entirely opt-out, increasing pressure is put on Year 10 students to continue to the final years (the equivalent of 6th form). The motivation comes from a combination of factors, like competition for noncasual jobs/university/apprenticeship positions and a generalised perception that law/medecine/vetinary and other vocational fields are the only form of success you can get short of sporting prowess, but recently our Government has specifically stated they have a plan to increase the number of students going on to universirty or completing the HSC. I'm fairly certain the reason the Governments care about that is because youths who don't complete the HSC (or get an apprenticeship) are almost always long-term unemployed, which is a shallow measure for the effectiveness of the government.

That's dumb timetabling. The optimum lesson length is 1 hour. Shorter - for example the 35 minute lessons common at many schools - means too much time proportionately is lost to the start and end of lessons. Longer means boredom sets in badly - I suffered that in the 80 minute lessons I had for some classes at 6th form.
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Some ironic stories I have from university colleagues of mine who do/did education:
- 4000 word essays on "Why long essays are an inappropriate measure of student understanding".
- 70% course-value assignments on "Why large assessments do not reward the most talented students, but those with more time/time-management.
- 2 and 3 hour lectures about how standing in front of a large number of people talking is a poor/inefficient method of inducing information absorption.
- Posters on why large visual displays are a poor way to deliver complex information (such as the comparitive techniques for delivering information in education).

All of these have happened at my university's education faculty, and occur REGULARLY. And my university is arguably the best in the state.
 
crabnebula said:
University is boring, I'll take going back to school any day...
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That makes two of us

I think part of the boredom comes from a lack of competition. Back in high school I had friends to compete with for the highest grade or doing better on a test. Every few weeks our classes would post grades outside the classroom door, and my friends and I used to try to get the top spots. Call it stupid but it really made things much more interesting when you tried to be the best.

Now I'm in college and I'm sort of the antisocial type who doesnt make friends fast. This means nobody to compete with = extreme boredom. It doesn't help that I actually corrected a math professor during a lesson (Jesus she was stupid). All the hype for college certainly didn't help, with me constantly hearing how it was "the best four years of my life", about how unique the learning experience at college is, and all that crap. Maybe it's because I'm going to a junior college but most the professors seem...cold for lack of a better word. I mean they are nice and all but as soon as class is over they get thier asses out of there. It's alot different from high school where the teachers actually cared if you ditched or started messing up on tests. Maybe I just got excellent teachers in high school, and now that my expectations are so high I get disapointed and lose interest. I don't know anymore.

All I know is that back in HS the teachers were excellent and my friends made the lessons better. Now that they are gone everything in college seems to fail.
 
I take computer science and I really enjoy it, however I only discovered this after I'd spent a year working in industry doing very little learning (or at least little structured learning). I really lapped up everything I was taught in the first term and I did far better on my exams than I had before.

Maybe you need a break. Personally I found that when I had been away from it for a year, I really missed learning (I started actively learning in my free time which I had never done before).
 
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