#Bored in School

On Friday, I took a break from doing my taxes and spent one hour monitoring Twitter for the words bored, class and school. I expected to see a few posts; instead I saw a galaxy. All over the world, kids were posting—at the rate of about 1 per second by my guess—about how bored they were in real time.

The sheer volume—and outrage and creativity—of their laments was part awesome, part tragic. I wondered what would happen if we could somehow capture all that energy, all those empty hours?

For now, unsure what else to do, I have documented an hour of grievances, from 2 to 3 pm ET on March 15, 2013, to remind adults what it is like to be made to wait or be silent or do mind-numbing tasks of no import. (Note: This is not even close to a comprehensive list.)

By the time I get out of school today I will be a pro at all the games on my phone! #bored @KenzleyWilson

Watching Big Bang theory in math class #bored #whereareyouspringbreak instagr.am/p/W44gpHl3oU/ @c_partyrocker

When class is pointless.. #shouldnthavecome #bored @Kenzers_96

When I call my mom in math class.. #bored @MerMer_Paige

I hate watching movies in class. #bored @bekkachrist

In English before #Bored #Netherhall #School #Lewis #Southwell pic.twitter.com/Kr4pg9bnjb @Lee_Farish

Survived math test this period…I think. Now gotta live thru next 4 periods til spring break! #OhYeah #Bored @jayna_lei

Been in class for 10 minutes and I already finished the assignment that is supposed to take 60. #bored @KilliynHope

Caught me slippin , #what #i #do #in #school , #texting #bored #bummmmm instagr.am/p/W4z1jxHcOM/ @Ayo_Judayy

Wish my mom could come pick me up from school..#Bored @CaitlinWilkie1

Documenting time passing during class #bored #timegoesbysoslowly instagr.am/p/W4yfi6r65X/ @juliaa_nicole

This class can end anytime now! #Bored @motorgabe707

I haven’t done anything in school all day besides take the [Ohio Graduation Test] #Bored @AnnaReneeSadows

Can we just skip to the part where school is over and it’s summer? #school #summer #bored #hatewinter #iwantsummer #now @jamiestark16

I’m so glad my mom is making me stay at school since I’m not doing anything in any of my classes. #sarcasm #bored #annoyed @amariiee13

At school. #Bored @Raccccheeeel

Bored in class…. #sleepy #bored #tired #school instagr.am/p/W4ws6Axf83/ @Cster_

This is what I do when I’m bored in class #bored #school pic.twitter.com/z9u9suB0An @ChristineLangg

Math class, #bored @rachyboom1234

English Class #Bored #BadLighting #Whatever instagr.am/p/W4xu7wJkLt/ @_TheNamesShania

You get the idea. The bottom line is that if you did a word cloud for kids’ Tweets from school, it would probably look like this.