Dr Teresa Belton says that children should be encouraged to observe the world around them.
Vocabulary: state of mind 詞匯：心境
Were you constantly bored as a child? Maybe that helped you to develop your innate ability to be creative.
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Boredom can be a good thing for children, according to Dr Teresa Belton, researcher at the University of East Anglia's School of Education and Lifelong Learning. After interviewing authors, artists and scientists in Britain, she's reached the conclusion that cultural expectations that children should be constantly active could hamper the development of their imagination.
British comedienne and writer Meera Syal grew up in a small mining village with few distractions. The researcher said: "Lack of things to do spurred her to talk to people she wouldn't otherwise have engaged with and try activities she wouldn't, under other circumstances, have experienced, such as talking to elderly neighbours and learning to bake cakes."
Belton added: "Boredom made her write. Meera Syal kept a diary from a young age, filling it with observations, short stories, poems, and diatribe."
The academic didn't ignore the old saying the devil finds work for idle hands, though. Belton pointed out that young people who don't have the interior resources to deal with boredom creatively may end up smashing up bus shelters or taking cars out for a joyride.
How about watching TV and videos on the computer? The academic believes that nothing replaces standing and staring at things and observing your surroundings.
It's the sort of thing that stimulates the imagination, she said, while the screen "tends to short circuit that process and the development of creative capacity".
Dr Belton concluded: "For the sake of creativity, perhaps we need to slow down and stay offline from time to time."
Glossary 詞匯表 （點擊單詞收聽發音）
- innate天生的
- expectation期待
- to hamper妨礙
- the imagination想象力
- distractions使人分心的事物
- to spur去激發
- to engage使從事、忙于
- circumstances環境
- a diatribe酷評
- an academic 學術界人士
- the devil finds work for idle hands游手好閑，造惡之源
- interior resources內在方法
- to smash up去砸爛
- a bus shelter公車候車亭
- a joyride（用偷來的車）開快車兜風
- to stare凝視，張大眼睛看
- the surroundings周圍景物事物
- to short circuit去短路
- for the sake of為了...的緣故或目的
- offline線下
