With a woman to look at culture from a Christian worldview, I'm John Stone Street with a point.

Recently in the New York Times, Catherine Pearson noted how the growing cultural stigma

against boredom burdens parents.

Research shows that parents are cross, cultural, and economic lines believe it's their job

to fend off their kid's boredom with all kinds of activities.

But doing so implicitly teaches kids that boredom is bad for them, and entertainment is

a right.

This plays well in our age that treats any discomfort as dangerous, and that having fun,

or at least avoiding suffering, as the meaning of life.

This understanding of life just robs kids, however, a finding that joy, the meaning, and

the truth of self-sacrifice, of service to others, have devotion to things bigger than

ourselves.

It's also cruel to teach kids who live in a fallen world that suffering and discomfort

can be avoided, and that you can't truly be happy if you fail to avoid it.

Allowing kids to be bored and uncomfortable, on the other hand, teaches them that they

actually will be able to handle tough things, with God's help.

For the Carlson Center, I'm John Stone Street with a Point.