The word wait means, among other things, “to do nothing until something happens”. I have been teaching kindergarten for many years and I see that this ability is increasingly being lost in children. In other words, impatience takes up so much space in the classrooms today that it becomes difficult to manage the resulting behaviors.
Who could blame the children for their haste and their difficulty in enduring the wait? We constantly stimulate them by imposing a schedule of activities on them, we respond to their slightest wishes even before they formulate them, we consult our cell phones at the slightest opportunity and we do the same with our children by plugging them into screens. as soon as a timeout occurs. Too long at the doctor or too long at the grocery store?
Quick, quick, we get them a cell phone to calm them down. How can they learn to control themselves and tolerate frustration if we do this? How can they develop their sense of observation, their concentration, their tolerance and their patience if the opportunities to wait are rare for them?
The ability to wait may seem trivial at first glance, but it influences several aspects of our actions. In a classroom, impatience and intolerance generate several disruptive behaviors. A child who hits a classmate because he is being disturbed, another who destabilizes because he has to wait for all the students to get dressed to go outside or who disrupts the class because I don’t explain quickly enough…
Faced with the impatience of children, adults tend to stimulate them more to prevent them from becoming disorganized. In my opinion, this reaction amplifies the disruptive behaviors rather than fixing them. In fact, we apply a bandage on the problem without taking the time to treat it. For example, I have watched educators present videos to students on a smart board during lunch or at snack time to entertain them while others finish eating.
It must be said that this type of intervention sometimes represents a mode of survival. Indeed, how to manage several disruptive behaviors if the child has not developed the habit of waiting from an early age? Our role as parents and educators is not to occupy them constantly, but to teach them the rules of life that contribute to collective well-being.
Moreover, I have the impression that the children have difficulty adapting to the rhythm of a class. They flit from one game to another like watching videos on the Internet. A task too long or too arduous? They move on. They get tired, quickly because they want to get everything instantly.
Why develop the ability to “do nothing until something happens”? To control oneself, to concentrate, to be patient, to wait one’s turn, to become aware of one’s environment and to tolerate frustrations. These are all essential skills for the proper functioning of life in society. Let’s never forget that children are constantly imitating us. Let’s change our behaviors so that they can improve. Impossible for them to do it alone. They need a guide to show them the way. This guide is us!