"I'm bored" HELP for the love of all things good, help me.

[FloatThatShip]

My DS is 12, he should be in Year 8 but can't go because of emotionally based school avoidance. He's going in twice a week for half an hour, school are pleased with him and this isn't the issue. The issue is he's constantly bored and it's driving me insane. It's fine when his friends are online as he can play games with them and get social interaction. But the rest of the time it's "I'm bored".... Dear god help me. He doesn't read books, has no hobbies apart from gaming (which I do let him do during the day) and I have things to do, plus I'm in my 40s and have no desire to spend all day entertaining a preteen.
Help me please, what do your young people do to keep busy and not insanely bored?!!!

What interests him?

What school work/learning is he doing at home? Is there not some structure in place so he gets an education? Gaming all day will do him no good either short or long term

Are you not encouraging him to study at home i am sure there are game type activities on computer that are educational

My teens did a lot of sport, reading and cooking with me

But obviously that was around school.

He should be doing schoolwork during the day.

Maybe for Christmas you could get a subscription to one of those science boxes with activities.

I can’t stand it when my kids winge they are bored. If those words get uttered in this house the child is given something to do. And that task is not negotiable. I have only had to hand out chores twice.

He can't do school work all day! Kids get much more done at home alone than at school.
He's not really found anything else that he's interested in, he's not sporty, doesn't like walks, can't do clubs because of the anxiety so doesn't find new hobbies. 🙁

@Guest100 that might be an idea. We've had one before but when he was younger. It's got to not resemble school work but there might be something out there that looks cool.

@Todaypicard no, school can't give him a structure at home and he can only do limited study. It's so sad for him.

If he is bored suggest he learns techniques to overcome his anxiety to get him back into school

Or there is an online school he can attend - I forget the name but hopefully someone will come along who knows

@littlemissprosseco he does help with some meals but it's just not really his thing. Reading is a no, so disappointing as I'm an absolute book worm 😂

@Quitelikeit any suggestions for a 12 year old to access to help his EBSA?
He can't attend online school unfortunately.

@Rolooo sorry, forgot to tag you. Children at home get through homework faster and he is only doing a few subjects at the moment. EBSA is a very tight balancing act and school does not want him to do more than a small amount at home. Any suggestions for what your preteens enjoyed doing?

Oh and he enjoys playing games such a board games and chess but I can't spend all my time doing that otherwise we'd live in a mess 😂

https://kingsinterhigh.co.uk/

Have you got a pet?

@Wellbeing24 thank you for the suggestion, he can't access online school though

We got a small dog when one of our children was struggling. It was a life saver

Yes, 2 cats and a dog. He can't walk the dog alone though as she's a reactive rescue who is very nervous.
He does help feed the cats.

So glad to hear it helped. He does love animals.

Can he get into coding? Scratch is a good place to start. My son created a game earlier today where you have to move a cat around, eating fruit to score points and avoiding the zombie. It is the first game he's made and he's 9. You literally learn how to code and make it all from nothing.

@tellmesomethingtrue Scratch? Ooh, I will look it up. Is it something he can learn but himself?

How about learning a language?

@littlemissprosseco oh good shout, he did mention that Duolingo app and I think his dad is looking into it. I will nudge. Thank you