Living with boredom has to be learnt

Two days ago I conducted story telling at the Library. The story like many fairy tales has a repeated storyline. It is about a poor fisherman, having caught a golden fish and releasing it back into the sea, was granted wishes. In the story he was sent by his wife 5 times to ask for more riches and power till finally they were restored to their original state after the wife asked to be the queen of the sea.

It is very common to find repeated scenes or repeated actions in fairy tales and children stories. So they are many fairy tales where the main character has to undergo several challenges to triumph over evil. A simple animal story would also have one baby animal approaching several other different animals with the same question to solve a mystery.

However like my session two days ago I observe increasingly that young children get quite restless and start fidgeting when they sense a repeated sub plot or storyline. I have been conducting story telling for close to 10 years and find it more difficult to select story books that can hold the children's attention. In other words I feel today's children seem to be easily bored. That is why I have to look for books which I can dramatise into the like of a  TV show or computer game.  Children story books have repeated phrases or scenes with the intention for children to retain the words or theme. However today's children may be so smart that this may not be necessary.

Seems to me technology has created so much fun for children there is no chance for them to experience delayed gratification ie. they do not have opportunity to live with boredom. "Free baby sitting services" provided by technology has blasted their minds with visual and audio stimulation unmatched by print media. Moreover parents are quick to offer alternatives once their kids complain about an activity being uninteresting.

So last Tuesday I have some parents walking out halfway through the story because their kids found the story too boring and started to be restless. I think they have no patience for the fisherman's wife to build up her ambitions. They want their children's wish to be answered immediately.

My advice to these parents. Better train their kids to fold clothes or do so household chores, ie. to learn to live with boredom.